By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Canada (AA) – Canada’s first coronavirus patient was discharged from a Toronto hospital on Friday.
The man, who was diagnosed with coronavirus the day after returning from Wuhan, China Jan. 23, improved “to the point where he no longer required patient care,” Sunnybrook hospital officials said in a statement.
However, Toronto Public Health “will continue to monitor the patient in his home,” the hospital said.
He was kept in an isolation room in hospital, while his wife, who also was confirmed to have the virus, has been in self-isolation at home. She will continue to be monitored, as well.
Three people have been confirmed to have the coronavirus – the two Toronto residents and another in British Columbia.
Ontario health officials said they were investigating 27 people who may have the virus, known as 2019-nCoV.
The 27 possible cases are either in hospital or they have been ordered into self-isolation in their residences.
The respiratory infection has now infected close to 10,000 worldwide and as of Thursday, more than 200 had died in China. The infection has spread to at least 15 other countries.
The numbers have increased enough that the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global emergency on Thursday.