Ontario couple fine, but testing positive

Health officials at a loss to explain why swabs show traces of new virus

Ontario’s first two cases of the new coronavirus — a husband and wife — have recovered but remain in isolation at their home because tests still show them carrying the bug, authorities say.

Nose and throat swabs taken since the man was released from Sunnybrook hospital two weeks ago continue to show traces of coronavirus in both him and his wife, who was never hospitalized.

Public health officials are trying to decipher what that indicates as scientists in China and around the world work to pinpoint more traits of the virus, which has never before been seen in humans.

“There is some genetic material or viral material left in the individual specimens,” Dr. Vanessa Allen of Public Health Ontario said Thursday.

“We don’t know that means, whether that’s live or dead virus,” Allen said.

“There’s some component of virus in those specimens and the criteria that have been laid out are being followed, that we required two negative specimens until we understand more about what that means,” she said.

Those tests must be taken at least 24 hours apart.

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health said the apparent stubbornness of the coronavirus in the Toronto-area couple, who returned from China Jan. 22 aboard a China Southern

Airlines flight, may be due to their age.

The man is in his 50s and has some other health conditions that could impair his ability to shed the virus, Dr. David Williams told a news conference at Queen’s Park.

“Younger people tend to have a shorter course and throw it off much quicker,” Williams said.

That is apparent from Ontario’s third case of the virus, a Western University student in her 20s who returned Jan. 23 from visiting her sick parents in the outbreak’s epicentre of Wuhan. She recovered within three days and was cleared Wednesday.

Allen said Ontario’s testing process for COVID-19, the disease caused by the bug, has now been accelerated.

Public health lab technicians in Ontario have begun using the same method as the federal lab in Winnipeg where previous cases have been sent for confirmation.

Negative tests in Ontario are no longer being shipped to Winnipeg, meaning cases can be ruled out within 24 hours of the swabs being taken instead of waiting another two or three days for a second test in Manitoba.

However, samples that test positive in Ontario are still being sent to Winnipeg for confirmation.

As of Thursday morning, Ontario had 15 cases under investigation and awaiting results. There have been no new confirmed cases in the past two weeks, despite the rising number of deaths and illnesses in China and, to a lesser extent, in other countries. There are now more than 60,000 cases of the virus around the world, mostly in China. Elsewhere in Canada, British Columbia has four cases.

Three people from Canada’s first repatriation flight from China have been tested for the virus after showing symptoms of cough or fever at CFB Trenton but those tests have come back negative, Williams said.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said she is pleased that Ontario has not been hit harder by the coronavirus, although Williams noted authorities are staying vigilant.

“We are confident it is being contained,” Elliott said on the way into a cabinet meeting on Thursday. “The system is working. People are doing their part and our medical professionals are doing what they need to do as well.”