By The Canadian Press
Tourists from Wuhan, China, line up to get a seat on a charter flight returning to Wuhan at Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
TORONTO — A man who had Canada’s first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus was discharged Friday from a Toronto hospital.
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre said the man is now recovering at home.
“Over the course of the week, his status continued to improve to the point where he no longer required in-patient care,” the hospital said in a statement. “Sunnybrook has liaised with Toronto Public Health, who will continue to monitor the patient in his home.”
The man in his 50s travelled to Toronto from China last week and was Canada’s first case of the virus. The patient’s wife, who travelled with him, also became ill with the virus, but had less severe symptoms and has been in self-isolation at home.
Canada’s third confirmed case, a person in British Columbia, has also been in isolation at home. That case is also linked to recent travel.
The novel coronavirus has now infected almost 10,000 people around the world and the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a global health emergency.
China as of Friday morning counted 9,692 confirmed cases with a death toll of 213, including 43 new fatalities. The vast majority of the cases have been in Hubei province and its provincial capital, Wuhan, where the first illnesses were detected in December. No deaths have been reported outside China.
Canadian officials have said the measures to prevent the spread of the illness in this country are working and there’s no need to change the plans.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2020.
— with files from The Associated Press.
