A total of 18 cases of COVID-19 are reported in Ontario and eight in British Columbia. One presumptive positive case has been reported in Quebec.
Here is a timeline of cases in this country.
Jan. 25: A man in his 50s who arrived in Toronto from Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the outbreak, becomes the first “presumptive” case of the new coronavirus in Canada. The man called 911 as soon as he got sick with relatively minor symptoms and was placed in isolation in Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital.
Jan. 26: The wife of the Toronto man who was Canada’s first “presumptive” case of the new coronavirus becomes the second presumptive case. The woman is kept in home isolation.
Jan. 27: The National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg confirms that a man in quarantine in Sunnybrook Hospital is Canada’s first documented case of the new coronavirus.
Jan 28: Health authorities confirm Canada’s second case of the novel coronavirus. The woman had recently travelled to Wuhan with her husband, who was the first case confirmed in Canada.
Jan 28: Health officials in British Columbia say a man in his 40s is presumed to have the new coronavirus and is doing well as he recovers at his Vancouver home. B.C.’s health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, says the man often works in China and voluntarily isolated himself upon returning to Canada.
Jan. 28: The presumed case of the new strain of coronavirus in B.C. is confirmed by the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg.
Jan. 31: Toronto man hospitalized with the novel coronavirus is well enough to go home. Sunnybrook Hospital says he’ll continue to recover at home, where his wife is also in self-isolation.
Jan. 31: Ontario’s third case of the new coronavirus is confirmed. The patient, a woman in her 20s, had travelled to the affected area in China. The London university student initially tested negative for the virus, but a subsequent test at the national lab in Winnipeg was positive. Health officials say her symptoms are minor.
Feb. 4: Health officials announce another presumptive confirmed case in B.C. Henry says the woman had family visiting from China’s Hubei province and she is in isolation at her home.
Feb. 5: British Columbia’s second case of coronavirus is confirmed by the National Microbiology Lab.
Feb. 6: Henry announces two new cases of COVID-19 in B.C., noting both people were in the same household as the woman diagnosed with the province’s second case.
Feb. 12: Ontario health officials say the woman from London, Ont., no longer has the novel coronavirus in her system. It marks the first time a case of the illness has been resolved in Canada.
Feb. 14: Officials in B.C. announce the province’s fifth case of COVID-19. The woman in her 30s who lives in B.C.’s Interior recently returned from Hubei province.
Feb. 19: Henry announces that the person diagnosed with B.C.’s first case of the new coronavirus has recovered. It’s the first time this has happened in the province.
Feb. 20: A woman who recently returned from Iran is diagnosed with British Columbia’s sixth case of COVID-19. She’s the first person in the country diagnosed with the illness who did not recently visit China. Meanwhile, in Ontario, the man who had Canada’s first case of the virus is cleared after testing negative for the illness twice in 24 hours.
Feb. 21: The last known case of coronavirus in Ontario is resolved.
Feb. 23: Officials in Toronto announce Ontario has a new case of coronavirus — the fourth to be diagnosed in the province. The woman arrived in Toronto from China several days earlier.
Feb. 24: Henry announces a seventh person in B.C. has been diagnosed with the new coronavirus. The man in his 40s was in close contact with the woman who has the province’s sixth case of the illness.
Feb. 26: Ontario officials announce a fifth diagnosis in the province: a woman in her 60s who recently travelled to Iran.
Feb. 27: Quebec public health officials report the province’s first presumptive case, a woman from the Montreal region who recently returned from Iran. Ontario officials also confirm a sixth case of COVID-19 in the province. They say the man in his 60s is the husband of Ontario’s fifth patient with the virus.
Feb. 28: Ontario reports a seventh confirmed case — a man in his 50s who had travelled to Iran. The man arrived in Toronto on Tuesday, Feb. 25 and went to the emergency department of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre the next day. It also reports its eighth case: a man in his 80s with a travel history to Egypt. Officials said he arrived in the city on Feb. 20 and went to the Scarborough Health Network’s General Hospital’s emergency department on Thursday.
Feb. 29 Health officials in British Columbia say a woman in her 60s who travelled from Iran is the eighth case of COVID-19 in the province. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says the woman has a relatively mild case and she is in self-isolation at home. Health officials in Ontario report another three cases — two women who had recently made separate trips to Iran, and the 69-year-old husband of one of those women, who had no recent travel history.
March 1: Ontario officials diagnose four new cases — three in York Region and one in Toronto. All four patients had recently travelled abroad. One had travelled to Egypt with a man who was later diagnosed with the virus, while the rest had recently been in Iran.
March 2: Ontario health officials are reporting three new cases bringing the total in the province to 18.
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – RCMP say the body of a second person has been found inside their vehicle after a road washed away amid pouring rain on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Police say two vehicles went into the Sarita River when Bamfield Road washed out on Saturday as an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C.
The body of the other driver was found Sunday.
More coming.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday’s provincial election.
The party says in a statement that its two newly elected MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, support Furstenau’s leadership as they “navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.”
Neither the NDP led by Premier David Eby nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad secured a majority in the election, with two recounts set to take place from Oct. 26 to 28.
Eby says in a news conference that while the election outcome is uncertain, it’s “very likely” that the NDP would need the support of others to pass legislation.
He says he reached out to Furstenau on election night to congratulate her on the Greens’ showing.
But he says the Green party has told the NDP they are “not ready yet” for a conversation about a minority government deal.
The Conservatives went from taking less than two per cent of the vote in 2020 to being elected or leading in 45 ridings, two short of a majority and only one behind the NDP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.
The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.
Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.
Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”
Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The winner will be announced in late November.
The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.
The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.
They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.
The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.
“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.
“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”
His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.
“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.
“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”
The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.
“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”
Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.
“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.
The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.
“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”
Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.
“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”
“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”
The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.
Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.
A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
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