Ontario has 4 new cases of coronavirus, bringing Canada’s total to 24

Matt Dunn, a researcher for the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh, holds dead samples of the coronavirus (COVID-19). (Nate Guidry/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)

TORONTO — Four more cases of the new coronavirus were detected in the province of Ontario on Sunday, bringing the total diagnoses in Canada to 24, health authorities announced.

All four of the patients had recently traveled overseas. It appears the virus is not yet spreading locally, but the ministry of health said in a press statement that it is actively planning to meet the potential of a local spread.

There have now been 15 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario, though the first three patients have since been cleared of the virus, according to a Canadian Press report.

Of the four new cases, three had recently been in Iran, the province said. All four people are in self-isolation at home.

One is a Toronto man in his 50s currently staying in Vaughan, Ontario He and his brother, who was also diagnosed with COVID-19, were in Iran recently.

Another of the cases is a man from York Region in his 40s, who recently returned from Iran with his wife and toddler. His wife was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Saturday.

The third is a Toronto man in his 50s who got back from Iran a week ago and went to hospital on Friday.

The fourth patient is a woman in her 70s from Newmarket, Ontario She was in Egypt with another person who was recently diagnosed with the virus.

Thus far, health officials have said, all of the cases of COVID-19 in Canada are either in people who had recently traveled abroad or who were in close contact with those who had. British Columbia has reported eight cases, and Quebec is reporting one.