THUNDER BAY – Health officials are warning passengers seated near a Nipigon woman on a March 19 Porter Airlines flight, who has since been diagnosed with COVID-19, to take precautions for the next couple of days.
The patient a woman, was aboard Flight 222, which originated in Halifax and had stops in Ottawa and Toronto.
The Thunder Bay District Health Unit is advising anyone seated in rows eight through 12, as well as flight crew, to self-monitor until April 2 and call them should they be showing signs of the coronavirus.
Those showing no signs of the virus do not need further follow-up.
Dr. Janet DeMille, the chief medical officer of health at the Thunder Bay District Health Unit, said once the patient was found to be positive for the COVID-19 virus, they began due diligience to learn more about her background and with whom she might have been in contact with since arriving back in Northern Ontario.
"We know that an individual had been travelling and it turns out it was to eastern Canada," DeMille said on Tuesday afternoon, a day after the health unit announced the region's fourth COVID-19 case.
"They returned on March 19 and went home to Nipigon and they were self-isolating since that time and have been remaining at home. They did have some other members of their family with them, so they're all in the home."
DeMille said the woman was tested for the virus last week at Nipigon District Memorial Hospital.
Patients who are tested and subsequently found to be positive for COVID-19 are then followed up with, to determine if they are in need of urgent care. Their health is the No. 1 concern, she said. They also inquire about what they've been up to recently and when their symptoms began, to determine the infectious period to glean when the individual may have been spreading the virus to others.
They want to know if the patient has been out in the community or had visitors to their home, an attempt to identify anyone they may have come into contact with during the infectious period.
DeMille said the decision to limit the passenger list to those seated in five rows is derived from evidence-based guidelines that have been recently provided to the Health Unit.
"For individuals within several rows around where an individual is sitting, they have a moderate potential for exposure. The rest of the cabin, unless there was a direct interaction of more than 15 minutes, they would be considered at a low risk of exposure," DeMille said.
"What we've done is we've indicated that, and that's sort of standard practice with other health units as well."
The initial version of this story identified the patient as a man. We apologize for the error.
