Officials testing Ottawa case for coronavirus

The testing for the first suspected local case of the coronavirusis being conducted in Torontoand the results should be known by Thursday at the latest, according to Ottawa's chief medical officer of health.

In the meantime, Dr. Vera Etches said residents who haven't travelled recently to the Hubei province of China or been in close contact with someone who has have little reason to worry.

Etches and the city's general manager of emergency services, Anthony DiMonte, gave council an update on the city's measures to deal with any possible arrival of the new version of the respiratory virus.

The virus has killed more than 130 people in China and infected more than 6,000 in China and abroad, with no vaccine for it yet.

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The Ottawa Public Health's local network and the paramedics are now asking additional questions of patients complaining of fever and shortness of breath.

If the ill person has recently been to the city of Wuhan in Hubei province, or been in contact with someonewho has, officials ask them to call ahead to the hospital sothe patient bypasses the emergency room and is treated in isolation.

Etches said that the incubation period for the coronavirus appears to be a maximum of 14 days, although symptoms usually present themselves within a few days of exposure.

40 tests in Ontario

Complications of the coronavirus, which are similar to those of the flu, include pneumonia. Of those who may become exposed, older people and those with underlying health issues are most at risk.

Across Ontario, 40 people have been tested so far for the coronavirus, and two cases of the illness have been identified in Toronto.

Both patients are doing well, said Etches.

However, the medical officer said while it's always a good idea to wash your hands and cough into a tissue to avoid spreading germs in general, there is no reason for the general public to take extraordinary measures to avoid general contact, such as sports teams shaking hands after a game.