TORONTO —
Ontario health officials have confirmed the fourth case of coronavirus in Canada and the third in the province.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health said that a woman in her 20s, who had a travel history to Wuhan, China, returned to Canada on Jan. 23 on a plane before travelling to London, Ont. in a vehicle.
“At the time, she was asymptomatic,” Dr. David Williams told reporters at a news conference held Friday afternoon. “During her time in her own location she noted some symptoms and did the correct thing.”
“Throughout this time, protocols and procedures were followed excellently in such a way that there has been no risk at all to Ontarians or the health system in this process.”
Williams described the case as “very different” from the other three already confirmed in Canada, as the woman originally tested negative for the virus known as 2019-nCoV. A subsequent test at the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg showed she was “weakly positive” with the illness.
The woman recovered in a few days, officials said, and remains in self-isolation in her home.
According to the Medical Officer of Health for the Middlesex-London Health Unit, the woman went “above and beyond” to prevent the spread of the illness. She wore the equivalent of a surgical mask on the flight and then went into self-isolation, leaving her home only to go to the hospital the following day.
“Because of her awareness of the risks associated with travel to Wuhan, she went straight into isolation in her home,” Dr. Christopher Mackie said. “Every time she had contact with someone in Canada she was wearing a mask.”
Mackie described the illness as “very mild” and said there were low levels of the virus in her sample.
First test was done ‘properly,’ officials say
The first test for 2019-nCoV was conducted a week ago, the chief of medical microbiology with the Public Health Ontario Laboratory said.
“At the time, it was the very best test, it was the original test that we had all been working on collectively,” Dr. Vanessa Allen. “The original test was done well, it was done properly, it was appropriate.”
The second test was conducted a few days later, she said.
The provincial laboratory is using two tests to determine presumptive cases of 2019-nCoV and then a few days later five more tests are applied to the samples at the National Microbiology Laboratory.
“They actually look at slightly different parts of the virus and making sure that it is there and it wasn’t positive on all of their tests, so again validating that we are really trying to move together to get the right answer,” Allen said.
Officials say that all other people who previously tested negative in Ontario have been retested. No further positive cases have been reported.
Patient is student in London, Ont.
The coronavirus patient is a student at Western University, although health officials say she has not been to the campus since she arrived back in Canada.
In a statement released Friday afternoon, a spokesperson said that the individual is being monitored both by public health officials and the university.
A Western student is confirmed to have Novel Coronavirus. The student took great care in terms of self-isolation and treatment, and has not been on campus since returning from China. @mlhealthunit has confirmed there is very low risk to campus community. https://t.co/4rAEGxYC4h
“Since returning to London, Ont. from Wuhan, China on January 23, and before showing any symptoms, the student took great care and responsibility by self-isolating at home and seeking appropriate medical attention,” the statement reads.
“The student has not been on Western’s campus since returning to London, and Middlesex-London Health Unit (MLHU) officials have confirmed there is very low risk to the campus community.”
First Canadian coronavirus patient discharged from hospital
“In discussion and collaboration with our local public health unit, the decision was made to discharge him home to be with his wife. We are not anticipating his condition to worsen,” Dr. Jerome Leis, medical director of infection prevention and control at Sunnybrook, told reporters earlier in the day. “I think we have been very cautious throughout the process and he seems to be on a clear trajectory of improvement.”
The patient, a man in his 50s, was hospitalized on Jan. 23 the day after he returned from a trip to Wuhan, China. His wife, who travelled with him on China Southern Airlines Flight CZ311, is Canada’s second coronavirus patient.
The woman has been self-isolated in her home and both patients are being monitored by Toronto Public Health.
Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health said in a statement she was not surprised to learn of a third case of 2019-nCoV in the province, but it “does not change the situation in Toronto.”
“We have a very mobile population, with a lot of travel between Canada and China, so it is not surprising to learn of this news today. Local public health officials in London are following up directly on their case. This news does not change our situation in Toronto as we have no new cases here in our city. I will let you know directly if this changes. I want to remind Toronto residents that, at this time, the risk to our community remains low.”
On Thursday, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global emergency. Close to 10,000 people have been diagnosed with the virus worldwide amore than 200 people have died in China.
PARIS (AP) — French judicial authorities are investigating the disappearance of two Paralympic athletes from Congo who recently competed in the Paris Games, the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Bobigny confirmed on Thursday.
Prosecutors opened the investigation on Sept. 7, after members of the athletes’ delegation warned authorities of their disappearance two days before.
Le Parisien newspaper reported that shot putter Mireille Nganga and Emmanuel Grace Mouambako, a visually impaired sprinter who was accompanied by a guide, went missing on Sept. 5, along with a third person.
The athletes’ suitcases were also gone but their passports remained with the Congolese delegation, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the case.
The Paralympic Committee of the Democratic Republic of Congo did not respond to requests for information from The Associated Press.
Nganga — who recorded no mark in the seated javelin and shot put competitions — and Mouambako were Congo’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, organizers said.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
