Wife of Canada’s first coronavirus patient confirmed as country’s second case

The wife of Canada’s first novel coronavirus patient has tested positive for the virus at a public health laboratory, the province of Ontario’s health ministry said in a release on Monday.

The patient has been in self-isolation and is being monitored, the ministry said.

“Given the fact that she has been in self-isolation, the risk to Ontarians remains low,” said Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health David Williams in the release.

“From what we know, Wuhan novel coronavirus transmits through close contact — and there’s no closer contact than a husband and wife,” said Ontario’s health minister Christine Elliott in a tweet.

The first confirmed Canadian patient, a man in his 50s, had mild symptoms while on a flight to Toronto from Guangzhou, Canada’s chief health officer Theresa Tam told reporters on Sunday.