VANCOUVER—A woman in her 80s is in “critical condition” being treated in the intensive care unit at Vancouver General Hospital after contracting COVID-19, according to British Columbia health officials.

The patient has a presumptive case of novel coronavirus and is the province’s 13th case of the disease, health officials said.

The woman, who is from the Vancouver area, recently returned from India and Hong Kong and has developed “quite a severe illness” and is in “critical condition,” according to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry. She added that the woman had underlying medical conditions.

This is the first instance in B.C. where a COVID-19 patient has been hospitalized. The other 12 patients were asked to isolate themselves and recover in their own homes. Four of them have since recovered from COVID-19, tested negative for the virus, and are out of isolation, said Henry.

In Toronto, two of the city’s 11 confirmed cases of the disease have been admitted to hospital, according to Toronto Public Health. The rest have all been recovering at home, with daily check-ins from staff.

Henry said the risk of contracting COVID-19 in B.C. remains “very low.” She reiterated advice that has become the mantra of health officials in recent weeks — wash your hands, cover your nose and mouth if you cough or sneeze, and stay home if you are sick.

“We are appealing to everybody to take those personal precautions which are important to preventing transmission of illness,” she said.

B.C. health minister Adrian Dix emphasized that residents have a “duty to one another” to do their part to prevent the spread of the disease.

“It’s going to be a challenge for the system but it’s also going to be a challenge for society.”

B.C. health authorities are carefully watching other, more impacted jurisdictions like China, Italy, South Korea and Japan, to prepare for the spread of the disease, said Henry.

“We know the measures we need to take and its one of those things that’s not easy,” she said. “It take a bit of chaos but my job, and our job, is to minimize the chaos and be sure we are as prepared as we can be, recognizing there may be things that turn up that we did not plan for.”

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Wanyee Li is a Vancouver-based reporter covering courts and conservation issues for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @wanyeelii

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