Two new coronavirus cases in Toronto bring Ontario's total to 34
An additional two people have been added to the growing list of coronavirus patients in Ontario, bringing the province's total number of cases up to 34 as of Monday afternoon — and there's a chance that tally will rise even higher before the sun goes down.
Ontario's Ministry of Health updated its website around 10:30 a.m. this morning to reflect that three more cases (one of which was already announced by Peel Public Health ) had been confirmed positive in the province since Sunday night.
Patients number 33 and 34 are a man in his 80s' and a women in her 70's who recently travelled to Iran, according to the province. They both attended North York General Hospital in Toronto and are now self-isolating.
It had been just over 14 hours since the government announced two more cases of patients who had recently travelled to France and Washington, D.C., when these latest confirmations were published.
Ontario @ONThealth will now post updates on the status of #COVIDー19 everyday at 10:30am & 5:30pm:https://t.co/7zUcipmrHH
— Yvonne O'Reilly #CRSP (@YvonneOHS) March 9, 2020
These updates will replace the news releases @ONgov had been issuing #coronavirus #COVID19
If it feels like the coronavirus updates are becoming more frequent, it's because they are.
"As COVID-19 evolves, Ontario is taking further steps to inform the public on the status of the virus across the province," reads a release issued by the Ministry of Health this morning.
"To enhance these efforts, the [dedicated coronavirus] web page will now be updated twice a day (10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. EST), seven days a week," it continues. "The web page will also now include general information on each new confirmed case of COVID-19, including gender, age, public health unit, hospital (if applicable), where acquired and status."
Previous to today, Ontario's Ministry of Health had been updating the official count on its website every weekday at 10:30 a.m. Local public health officials have been filling in the gaps in their respective regions, leading to some confusion about how many cases are active at any given time.
#Ontario Making it Easier for Public to Stay Informed about COVID-19 https://t.co/G6c1FuGok2 #Newsroom
— Job Skills (@JobSkillsOrg) March 9, 2020
By the province's latest count, 22 people are currently under investigation for COVID-19. Another 30 have been confirmed positive and four have already recovered from their illnesses.
The coronavirus website will be updated at 5:30 p.m. this evening to reflect any cases diagnosed today, along with details about where the patients live, where they've travelled and how old they are.
"Currently, the virus is not circulating locally. However, given the global circumstances, last week Ontario implemented an enhanced response structure to formally bring together experts across the health sector to provide clinical expertise and experience to implement provincial and regional plans," reads the government's latest release.
"This will ensure the province is ready to contain and respond to a COVID-19 outbreak."
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