A third person in Ontario is isolating in connection with the hantavirus outbreak on the HV Hondius cruise ship.
Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones told media on Monday during a press conference that a person in Peel Region is “isolating and being monitored by the local public health unit.” She did not clarify how the person came to be connected to hantavirus or any other information on the individual.
Late last week, the province said twoGrey-Bruce Countyresidents who had been on board theMV Hondius cruise ship were isolating at home after arriving back on April 25.The self-isolation time is 45 days, which is the virus’ longest potential incubation period.
Jones said the couple in Grey Bruce are still self isolating and continue to be asymptomatic, with the local public health unit monitoring the situation closely.
Will there be more testing?
When asked if there was testing that was going to be done on the trio, Jones said that as they were not showing symptoms, tests wouldn’t be valuable.
“Initial conversations and feedback from Dr. Kieran Moore (Ontario’s chief medical officer of health) suggests that testing on asymptomatic (people) may not have the appropriate results, it may not be the best way to monitor,” she said. “That’s why these three individuals are self isolating, so we can see if there are any symptoms that come forward.”
Moore said the Grey Bruce couple disembarked the ship on the island of St. Helena in the South Atlantic, then flew to Johannesburg on the same flight as an infected person, meaning they were exposed in two places.
Other Canadians have arrived home
Meanwhile, the four Canadians who had been stuck on the Hondius during the outbreak that was declared in early May arrived in Victoria, B.C. on Sunday after a pit stop at Quebec’s Saguenay-Bagotville Airport.
B.C.’s top doctor said they are isolating there for at least 21 days due to their connections with the province.
They had gotten off the ship in Tenerife, in Spain’s Canary Islands, earlier Sunday and were deemed asymptomatic before taking a plane that was chartered by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Global Affairs Canada, with support from the Canadian Armed Forces, according to The Canadian Press.
Three people — a Dutch couple and a German who had left the ship before the outbreak was declared — have died in connection to the ship.
Asymptomatic American tests positive
Officials in the U.S. said an American passenger who flew to Nebraska tested positive for hantavirus without showing symptoms. Another American showed mild symptoms.
A French passenger developed symptoms during their flight to Paris and later tested positive, officials in that country said.
The World Health Organization on Monday updated it overall tally Andes hantavirus cases to nine.
