Quebec’s first probable case of COVID-19 detected, health minister says
Quebec Health Minister Danielle McCann says the first probable case of COVID-19 has been detected in a patient who recently returned from a trip to Iran.
She said the patient, a woman, went to a clinic in the Montreal region on Monday with minor symptoms. McCann declined to specify exactly where in Montreal that clinic is located.
Measures were quickly put in place to protect the health network and the community, McCann said Thursday evening at an impromptu news conference.
She said the woman did not take public transit to get to the clinic, and she hadn’t gone back to work since returning from Iran, so she has «limited contact» with people in the community.
A probable case must be confirmed by Canada’s National Microbiology Laboratory (NML) in Winnipeg. McCann said results from this most recent case are expected to arrive Sunday.
There are currently 21 cases under investigation in the province.
The ministry said a probable case of COVID-19 is determined by several factors, including a body temperature reading of more than 38 C and meeting COVID-19 exposure criteria.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the outbreak a global health emergency. More than 81,000 cases of COVID-19 have been detected since the virus emerged in the Hubei province of China last month.
In Canada, there are currently 13 confirmed cases, with the latest reported this morning.
This story will be updated
