Ontario now has a sixth confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, and health officials say it is the first instance in the province of human-to-human transmission.

Ontario's chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, says the man in his 60s is the husband of the province's fifth case — a woman who had recently been to Iran.

While China has been the epicentre of the outbreak of the virus known as COVID-19, Iran is now experiencing one of the worst outbreaks outside of China, with 254 people infected and 26 dead.

Health Minister Christine Elliott's director of communications says the husband was not in Iran with his wife, and this marks the first time Ontario has seen a case of human-to-human transmission — the patients in all of the other cases had a recent travel history to China.

Both the husband and wife are in self-isolation at home in Toronto.

More than 81,000 cases of COVID-19 have occurred since the virus emerged in China, but Ontario health officials say the risk of contracting coronavirus in Canada remains low.