OTTAWA

March 15: Five new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Ottawa

Josh Pringle CTV News Ottawa Producer and Digital Lead

Published Sunday, March 15, 2020 11:20AM EDT Last Updated Sunday, March 15, 2020 4:41PM EDT

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. (NIAID-RML via AP)

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OTTAWA -- Five new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Ottawa, bringing the total number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the capital to ten.

Ontario’s Ministry of Health announced the five new cases in its 10:30 a.m. Sunday update on the number of new cases of novel coronavirus in Ontario.

No details about the five new cases, including ages and if they were treated in hospital, were released. Health officials did not say whether the new cases of COVID-19 were related to travel or community transmission.

There are now 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ottawa. The first case was confirmed in Ottawa on Wednesday, March 13.

Health officials say all ten patients are self-isolating.

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Vera Etches told reporters Sunday afternoon that all 10 confirmed cases of COVID-19 are “all related to travel or to a contact to someone who is a confirmed case, including cases in Toronto.”

Etches says Ottawa Public Health is working through the process to identify contacts for each positive case.

“Our nurses have identified contacts, if there are contacts, that are close contacts in each case. For many of the earlier cases that process is finished. For the newer cases, they’re still in the process of identifying the contacts and following up.”

Ottawa’s COVID-19 Community Assessment Centre opened on Friday. In the first two days of operations, it saw 764 people. The Ottawa Hospital says 559 people received the COVID-19 screening test.

Health officials announced 39 new cases of COVID-19 in Ontario on Sunday. There are now 142 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario.

Late Saturday, the Eastern Ontario Health Unit confirmed a woman in Prescott-Russell tested positive for COVID-19.

Medical Officer of Health Dr. Paul Roumeliotis said the woman in her 30s returned from a trip to New York City on March 9 and developed symptoms two days later. She was treated at the Glengarry Memorial Hospital in Alexandria on March 12, and is now in self-isolation.