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Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus continue to rise in the Windsor-Essex region with four more patients announced on Thursday — increasing the area’s official total to eight.

The health unit confirmed the fifth case — a man in his 30s who frequently travels to Toronto — on Thursday morning.

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By Thursday evening, there were three more confirmations, among them a woman in her 60s at Windsor Regional Hospital — the region’s first case in a hospitalized patient.

The woman had been tested March 23 and was sent home, but she was re-admitted to hospital the next day when her symptoms worsened.

“We’re in it now,” said Windsor Regional Hospital CEO David Musyj.

Musyj said 50 patients at WRH who had been tested previously have been re-tested and are awaiting results from the London Health Sciences Centre — because it was taking too long to receive the first test results from Toronto.

The London laboratory promised WRH that test results will be sent within 24 hours.