Northern Ontario should take COVID-19 seriously despite lack of cases: health minister

Canada's health minister is advising people in northern Ontario to take the global COVID-19 outbreak seriously, despite low numbers of cases in the region so far.

There have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Thunder Bay yet. Fort Frances has one confirmed case, and two people are being monitored for the virus at the Atikokan General Hospital.

"My message to the people in northern territories is to take it seriously," said federal health minister Patty Hajdu. "I think in northern Ontario we're a little isolated from the large cities, and so we don't necessarily see the same kind of level of anxiety that we might be seeing in places like Ottawa ... or Vancouver or Toronto."

"But this is a very real, real situation and it might not feel that way," she said. "As these cases start to mount it, will become increasingly real."

Hajdu advised people to act like they have the virus, and act like they're trying to prevent it from spreading to others.

"The people that are most at risk from having a really negative impact, who are most at risk from dying from this virus, are the elderly, people with underlying conditions," she said. "People that have weak immune systems or weakened immune systems, and you know, what we're trying to do as a society is act collectively, and do the right thing."

"If you're at all sick, stay home," Hajdu said. "If you suspect that you've got COVID, you've recently traveled, you've been exposed to people who have traveled, you know, you've been exposed to other cases in other communities, then you need to reach out to public health and see how quickly you can get tested."