The wife of Canada's first novel coronavirus patient has tested positive for the virus at a public health laboratory, the province of Ontario's health ministry said in a release on Monday.
The patient has been in self-isolation and is being monitored, the ministry said.
"Given the fact that she has been in self-isolation, the risk to Ontarians remains low," said Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health David Williams in the release.
"From what we know, Wuhan novel coronavirus transmits through close contact — and there's no closer contact than a husband and wife," said Ontario's health minister, Christine Elliott, in a tweet.
The first confirmed Canadian patient, a man in his 50s, had mild symptoms while on a flight to Toronto from Guangzhou, China, Canada's chief health officer Theresa Tam told reporters on Sunday.
The man arrived in Toronto on Jan. 22 from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, and is currently being treated in isolation in a public hospital, Ontario health officials said on Saturday.
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