A third person in Ontario now in isolation as a precaution due to the hantavirus is self-isolating in Peel, the province’s health minister said Monday morning.
It’s not yet known if the person is in Mississauga or Brampton, only that they are self-isolating and asymptomatic, Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones said following a press conference on a different matter in Toronto.
The health minister added the person is being monitored by Peel Public Health officials, who told INsauga.com on Monday the person is visiting Canada and is not a resident of Mississauga or Brampton.
“Peel Public Health is monitoring one person who had contact with someone confirmed to have hantavirus,” the region’s public health authority said in a statement. “The risk to the broader Peel community is very low. Residents do not need to take any additional precautions.
“The person is currently well and has no symptoms,” the statement continued. “They are staying in isolation and are receiving daily support from Peel Public Health. We have clear protocols in place to support this person during quarantine and to ensure timely access to health care if needed.”
Citing privacy and confidentiality, Peel Public Health didn’t reveal any additional information about the person, including whether they’re isolating in Mississauga or Brampton.
Ontario health officials said on Friday two people who live in the same household in the area of Grey and Bruce counties in Ontario cottage country near Owen Sound are similarly isolating from the public as a precaution.
They, too, are asymptomatic, and were told to self-isolate by Canadian health officials. In late April, a week or so prior to the outbreak at sea, the pair had disembarked the cruise ship that’s at the centre of the deadly hantavirus outbreak.
Jones noted none of the three people will be tested for the virus at this time as testing may not yield “the appropriate results … and may not be the best way to monitor.”
She said the three individuals are self-isolating so “we can see if there are any symptoms that come forward.”
Meanwhile, four Canadians who disembarked the cruise ship at the centre of the deadly hantavirus outbreak arrived Sunday in B.C., where they will continue their quarantine.
Those four Canadians were among 130 passengers on the MV Hondius who exited the vessel at a port in Tenerife, an island in Spain’s Canary Islands earlier Sunday.
They were assessed as asymptomatic before they took off in a plane chartered by the Public Health Agency of Canada and Global Affairs Canada, with support from the Canadian Armed Forces.
PHAC and GAC said in a joint statement Sunday the passengers are expected to quarantine under supervision for just over two weeks in B.C. That will bring their total quarantine time to 21 days since May 6, the last day a confirmed case of hantavirus was on the ship.
Public health officials have said the hantavirus does not spread in the same way as COVID-19 and is not considered a disease with pandemic potential.
Hantavirus usually spreads when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings and isn’t easily transmitted between people.
Three people have died since the outbreak on the ship began, and five passengers tested positive for hantavirus, which can cause life-threatening illness.
Several other Canadians have been told to isolate after coming into contact with infected passengers.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus sought to reassure the public on Sunday, repeating that the risk for the general public from the outbreak is low.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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