Media conference at the John D. Bradley Convenion Centre. (Photo by Paul Pedro).Media conference at the John D. Bradley Convenion Centre. (Photo by Paul Pedro).
Chatham

BREAKING: Second case of COVID-19 confirmed in CK

A second positive case of COVID-19 has been found in Chatham-Kent just hours after Chatham-Kent's Medical Officer of Health announced the municipality's first positive case.

Dr. David Colby announced the first case on Wednesday morning at a media conference at the John D. Bradley Convention Centre in Chatham and the second positive late in the afternoon. Colby said an 81-year-old woman who recently traveled to the U.S. now joins a 52-year-old Chatham man who tested positive for the virus after returning from a Caribbean cruise.

She was admitted to the hospital in isolation on Monday and remains in stable condition. CK Public Health staff also advised her close contacts to self-isolate at home for 14 days.

“Having our second positive case does not mean that we are losing this battle at a local level," stressed Dr. Colby. "We had anticipated this virus traveling to our community and we are working to identify and isolate cases and their contacts to break the chain of infection. This is why the closures, bans and directions came when they did."

The 52-year-old man is also in self-isolation at home and is recovering well. The positive man didn't immediately feel ill but went to the emergency department and was sent home. The people he was in contact with are also in self-isolation for 14 days.

Officials with Chatham-Kent Public Health said 52 local people have been tested for COVID-19, and so far 38 tests have returned negative.

“This does not change, in any way, what we have been asking of the public," said Colby. "We must continue to closely abide by the measures that have been directed in order to halt the further spread of this virus within our community.”

Dr. Colby said he found out about the first positive case Tuesday night.

"He is doing well, his spirits are high and he has a supportive family," he added.

Colby said it’s inevitable that Chatham-Kent will get more COVID-19 cases. He said not to panic because it’ll be over soon, adding the curve should flatten in a couple of weeks. He added it’s difficult to predict when COVID-19 will peak in the Chatham area but he expects this life-altering event to last about 8-10 weeks based on what has happened in China and South Korea.

"Someone described this as flying a plane as you're building it," Colby said.

Colby insisted the risk of getting COVID-19 remains low. He added Chatham-Kent could be hit harder because of its aging population but the sparse population is an advantage when it comes to the social distancing of two metres because we don't have metropolitan areas like Toronto.

For more information about COVID-19, residents are asked to please visit www.ckpublichealth.com/covid19 or call the CK Public Health COVID-19 intake line at 519.355.1071 ext. 1900.

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