A sixth case of the novel coronavirus has been diagnosed in British Columbia after a woman in her 30s returned to the province from Iran.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Thursday the woman’s case is relatively mild and a number of her close contacts have already been put in isolation.
She said health officials are working on a detailed investigation of the woman’s travel and when her symptoms started to help determine if they need to notify those who travelled with her on the same aircraft.
Henry said the diagnosis shows B.C. has a robust system for identifying people who have the virus.
“This one, clearly, is a bit unusual in that the travel to Iran is something new,” she told a news conference.
“Iran has recently started reporting cases and we’ll be working with our national and international colleagues to better understand where she may have been exposed to this virus prior to her return to Canada.”
Henry said earlier this week that four of the five people already diagnosed with the virus were symptom-free. The fifth person, a woman in her 30s who returned from Shanghai, China, is in isolation at her home in B.C.’s Interior.
Henry said over 500 people have been tested for the virus in B.C. and many of those tested positive for the flu.
Three cases of the virus have also been confirmed in Ontario.
Filed by The Canadian Press.
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