Ontario doctor with coronavirus treated vulnerable cancer patients

A doctor at cancer treatment centre in an Ontario hospital has tested positive for coronavirus after recently seeing patients.

It has been confirmed that the 32-year-old is one of the four new patients announced by Ontario health officials on Wednesday.

The health care worker recently returned from a trip to Hawaii on March 7 according to CTV News.

She entered the Hamilton Health Sciences on March 9, after feeling symptoms. She works in the Juravinski Cancer Centre of the same hospital.

The doctor was interacting with patients and staff that same day according to a statement released by the hospital on Wednesday.

The statement says, “Proper infection control measures were taken and personal protective equipment was worn by staff and physicians who provided the care and testing.”

“Since becoming aware of this situation, HHS has been working closely with public health to determine and implement the most appropriate response.”

The hospital also noted that it is attempting to contact “those individuals who were also present in Clinic A” on March 9.

She is now in self-isolation in her home in Burlington while Hamilton Public Health monitors her.

This is the Halton Region’s first confirmed case of the coronavirus. Hamilton Public Health, Hamilton Region Public Health and Hamilton Health Sciences will likely hold a joint news conference at some point today.

“Halton Region Public Health is continuing to work with provincial and local health counterparts and with the resident to identify all known contacts who may have been potentially exposed to the virus to assess if there is a potential health risk,” said Dr. Hamidah Meghani, a Medical Officer of Health.

He also noted that the risk level for Halton residents “remains low” for now.

Of the 41 cases in Ontario, five have recovered. Each recovered patient has received two consecutive negative tests.

So far 101 cases of coronavirus have been reported in Canada. One of the cases resulted in the death of a man in his 80s. According to officials, the man had underlying health problems and was in North Vancouver’s Lynn Valley in a care home.