Canadian authorities say one of seven people who recently tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Alberta province travelled through Trinidad and Tobago.
According to reports on several Canada news sites on Tuesday, the province's chief medical officer, Dr Deena Hinshaw, said the seven people who have most recently tested positive for the illness were confirmed travel-related cases who are now recovering in isolation at home with support from public health officials.
She said the travellers returned from visiting a range of countries, including France, the Netherlands, Egypt, Iran, Taiwan, Germany, Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, the Philippines and the United States. Several of the patients visited more than one country and one individual was on the MS Braemar cruise ship.
“It is too early to know where each person contracted the virus,” Hinshaw said.
Three of the new cases are from the Edmonton zone. They include a man in his 70s and a woman in her 60s who travelled together and a woman in her 30s who had also recently travelled outside Canada. The other four new cases are from the Calgary area. They involve a man in his 50s, two women in their 30s and a woman in her 40s.
Hinshaw did not give further details on the identities of the seven new cases or their travel itineraries. She also did not state how recently they had travelled back to Canada and on what airlines.
Health authorities in Trinidad and Tobago have so far tested 37 people but none of the results was positive for the virus.