coronavirus toronto

Cases of coronavirus more than doubled in Toronto over the weekend

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario have more than doubled over the past few days, with eight more people testing positive for the virus this weekend.

The total number of 2019 novel coronavirus patients is now listed at 15 as of Monday morning, all of them located in the Greater Toronto Area.

Since the province's seventh case of coronavirus was confirmed on Friday, five additional men and three additional women have tested positive COVID-19.

Ontario's  Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. David Williams, announced late Friday night that the virus had been identified in an elderly man who arrived in Toronto on February 20 after travelling in Egypt.

The man in his 80s went to Scarborough Health Network's General Hospital on February 27 and is currently in self-isolation.

On Saturday afternoon, three more people were were confirmed to have contracted the virus: A 34-year-old woman who recently returned to Toronto from Iran, a 51-year-old woman who recently returned to Toronto from Iran, and a 69-year-old man whose wife had recently travelled to Iran.

The latter two patients attended Lakeridge Health Ajax Pickering on February 28 and were subsequently put into self-isolation.

Four additional positive cases of COVID-19 were confirmed by Williams on Sunday.

The first, a Toronto man in his 50s, did not have any recent history of travel. His brother, however, had recently travelled to Iran and tested positive for the coronavirus last week.

A woman in her 70s from Newmarket also tested positive for the virus after travelling to Egypt with another confirmed Toronto coronavirus patient. 

A York Region man in his 40s, the spouse of another confirmed-positive coronavirus patient, had recently travelled to Iran with his wife and toddler "but was asymptomatic on all flights," according to Ontario Public Health.

One man in his 60s who had returned to Toronto from Iran on February 23 also tested positive for the virus on Sunday after presenting at North York General Hospital with a cough.

Like all other confirmed patients, the four confirmed on Sunday remain in self-isolation and are actively being monitored by public health officials.

"At this time, the virus is not circulating locally," reads a release from Ontario's provincial government issued yesterday.

"However, given the global circumstances, Ontario is actively working with city and health partners to plan for the potential of local spread."

"The province continues to carefully monitor this situation and encourage residents to stay informed by regularly reviewing credible information sources."

Lead photo by

Evan Russell


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