Woman returning from Iran is B.C.'s sixth case of new coronavirus

PanARMENIAN.Net - A sixth case of the novel coronavirus has been diagnosed in British Columbia, Canada after a woman in her 30s returned to the province this week from travel in Iran, The National Post reports.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said Thursday, February 20 the woman’s presumptive 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 traveled with her on the same aircraft.

Henry said the woman lives in the Fraser Health region, which is located east of Vancouver.

“This one, clearly, is a bit unusual in that the travel to Iran is something new,” she told a news conference at the B.C. legislature. “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 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.

China, where an outbreak has caused more than 2,200 deaths, has reported another fall in new virus cases to 889 as COVID-19 spreads elsewhere.

China’s latest figures released Friday for the previous 24 hours brought the total number of cases to 75,465. The 118 newly reported deaths raised the total to 2,236. More than 1,000 cases and 11 deaths have been confirmed outside the mainland.