Canada has now surpassed 100 cases of the novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, according to tallies from the provinces.
Ontario has had a total of 42 cases. British Columbia has 46, Quebec has eight and Alberta has reported 19 cases. One other person, a former passenger of the Grand Princess cruise ship, also tested positive for the disease. New Brunswick has also confirmed its first case.
This brings the total to 117 as of March 11.
Most of Canada’s cases are related to travel, with the individual acquiring the virus abroad.
A handful of cases have been people who were in prolonged close contact with other confirmed cases, like an infected person’s spouse.
More recently, there have been a few reports of “community-acquired” cases of COVID-19.
B.C. provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry announced Tuesday that the province wasn’t sure where one of its newest cases was acquired and that another, a man in his 40s, seems to have caught the virus in the community.
This matters because it could indicate that the virus is circulating in Canada.
“It is these community cases that give us some degree of concern and grief, but being able to detect them is really important,” Henry said.
“As soon as we detect them, we can start that detailed investigation to find out where they might have come in contact, and it helps us uncover where other chains of transmission are in our community.”
B.C. also reported Canada’s first death related to COVID-19 on Monday: a man in his 80s living at the Lynn Valley Care Centre in North Vancouver.
