The number of novel coronavirus cases in Canada has climbed to 67 as patients in Alberta doubled to four and B.C. officials declared an outbreak at a long-term care facility.
Several of Canada’s cases stem from a trip on the Grand Princess cruise ship to Mexico in mid-February. The close quarters of a cruise ship has proven to be a fertile breeding ground for infection.
Three of Alberta’s cases are tied to that trip, said Deena Hinshaw, Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health. A man in his 40s from Edmonton, who has been infected, was not on the voyage. However, he travelled in the U.S. Midwest with a companion from British Columbia who was on the ship, Dr. Hinshaw told reporters on Sunday as she announced two new cases. The man’s companion is in B.C. and has the COVID-19 disease.
Among Alberta’s newest patients are a man in his 60s from Edmonton who returned from the cruise on Feb. 21, and a woman in her 30s from Calgary. She had been in close contact with someone who had recently travelled in Ukraine, Turkey and the Netherlands. That person is also in Alberta and is being tested for the coronavirus.
“This marks four cases in four days. For many, this may be alarming. I want to underline that three of these four cases are linked to a single cruise ship,” she said.
Dr. Hinshaw said health officials are working to limit the spread after learning of the new cases, and the risk of infection remains low in Alberta.
