Health officials in Alberta say a woman in her fifties living in the Calgary zone is presumed to have coronavirus.
The woman is now recovering in isolation at home with support from public health officials.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw, the provincial health officer, said the woman had returned from travel on board a Grand Princess cruise ship in California on Feb. 21. She went into isolation a week later on Feb. 28. She is expected to make a full recovery, Hinshaw said.
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The case is still considered presumptive as testing has not yet been confirmed at the national lab.
“We are taking this extremely seriously. Public health measures are already being put in place to prevent spread of the virus,” Hinshaw said in a press conference. “We have proven processes and well-trained teams to protect Albertans.”
At this time, it’s not known how many other Albertans were aboard the cruise, or how many people may have been potentially exposed over the course of the week before the individual entered isolation, Hinshaw said.
Health officials have reached out to people who were in close contact with the individual to monitor potential symptoms and to ask them to self-isolate at home.
Anyone who has returned from a Grand Princess Cruise to Alberta in the last two weeks is asked to self-isolate until 14 days have passed since their visit, even if they are feeling well.
Hinshaw said the risk is still considered low in Alberta.
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Those with health concerns or who are experiencing symptoms of the COVID-19 virus should contact Health Link 811 to see if follow up testing is needed.
As of March 5, 36 cases of COVID-19 had been confirmed in Canada.
On Feb. 26, Alberta Health Services announced it had expanded its testing to include people who have recently travelled to Hong Kong, Singapore, Iran, South Korea, Japan and Italy.
More to come as information become available.
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