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The other two confirmed cases are also Montrealers. The first returned from a trip to the Caribbean via Miami and is hospitalized at the Jewish General. The other returned from the Dominican Republic and is isolated at home.

Quebec director of public health Haracio Arruda said his department decided to call a news conference and warn the public about the transit rider because it is still possible to slow the virus’s spread here through tracking of contacts.

“Despite a very low risk, we prefer to be more careful, particularly in this period when there is not yet active community transmission in Quebec,” Arruda said.

He warned that as the number of cases here increases, this kind of tracing of individual cases and contacts will not be possible.

Quebec’s first clinic designated specifically for COVID-19 testing opened Monday at Montreal’s Hotel Dieu hospital. Officials said the clinic saw 20 people on Monday and at least 18 on Tuesday morning. Arruda said those people were not necessarily all tested and results are not known.

For now, all of Quebec’s confirmed cases have come from abroad, but for Arruda, it is not a question of whether the virus will start spreading within Quebec communities, but when.

“As it is going everywhere in the world, it’s normal that sooner or later we are going to have cases of transmission, and more spreading of it here than coming from other places. Because we are virgins. This is a new virus.”

He is not yet calling for cancellation of large gatherings, such as the upcoming St. Patrick’s Parade, nor is he expecting “an explosion of the number of cases tomorrow.” But eventually, he expects, “you will have as good a chance of catching it in Quebec as elsewhere.

“It is normal that there will be a lot of cases this year, and then over the years, it will either disappear or it will become like the … colds and flus we see each year, against which the population becomes immunized or develops a certain protection.”

Several times, Arruda repeated the public health mantra for reducing spread of the virus: wash your hands regularly and thoroughly, cough into a tissue or the bend of your elbow, if you have symptoms stay home and away from the elderly or those with compromised immune systems … and wash your hands.

mlalonde@postmedia.com