Coronavirus: Man in his 50s is the second COVID-19 death in Ontario
Halton Region Public Health (HRPH) says Ontario’s second death related to COVID-19 is connected to a patient being treated for an underlying condition at a regional hospital.
In a release, the health unit said the man – in his 50s – was a patient with the Milton District Hospital, and that his death was not connected to travel.
The deceased was a resident of Milton and was admitted to the district hospital on March 11.
He has later transferred to Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital on March 18 and died on arrival.
“This is the tragic proof that we need to work together as a community to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by practicing social distancing and taking action to protect yourself and those around you,” Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Halton region’s medical officer of health said.
Meghani believes the death is a case of ‘local transmission’ as the deceased did not travel out of Canada.
“What we see now is that at the moment, we know that he did not travel outside of Canada, nor does he have a link to a known COVID-19 case, and thus the indication is that there is local transmission,” said Meghani.
“We only received this information late last night. My staff are working very hard to look through, to get some more information and determine who needs to be self-isolated in the community.”
On Thursday, the province said two more new cases connected to travel came from Halton region.
The province says a man in his 50s, who travelled to the U.S. and San Juan, and a woman in her 50s, connected to travel to and from Spain and Finland, tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Both are in self-isolation, according to the ministry.
Halton Region is reporting 10 positive tests since the new year.
The death is the second in Ontario, with the first being a 77-year-old man from Muskoka who was a patient at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) in Barrie, Ont.
In that case, the patient also had pre-existing health conditions, according to the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit.
The province on Thursday reported 251 confirmed positive tests since it began tracking earlier this year. A total of 3,972 are under investigation.
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