A man in his 60s is the second person to be hospitalized at Peterborough Regional Health Centre. There are now 13 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Peterborough area.

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Peterborough now has 13 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, according to the region’s health unit.

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On Friday morning, Dr. Rosana Salvaterra, Peterborough Public Health’s medical officer of health, announced four new cases.

On Thursday the health unit revealed it had its first hospitalized case at the Peterborough Regional Health Centre and its first case at a long-term care facility with a resident at St. Joseph’s at Fleming.

The new cases announced Friday morning include:

10th case: A man in his 60s who has a history of travel to Portugal. He is currently hospitalized at PRHC. Investigating his close contacts.

11th case: A man in his 50s with travel history to the Middle East. He is in self-isolation at home. Investigating his close contacts.

12th case: A woman in her 50s; investigating her travel history or contact with others. She is at home in self-isolation. She was reported just an hour before the 11 a.m. media briefing.

13th case: A man in his 40s who recently returned from Mexico. He is at home in self-isolation. Investigating his close contacts.

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Salvaterra said 528 people have been tested to date, with 279 confirmed negative cases. Another 236 people are still waiting for test results and remain under investigation.

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The health unit continues to investigate the COVID-19 outbreak at St. Joseph’s at Fleming.

“We haven’t been able to complete the investigation so we aren’t able to make a conclusion yet (whether there is an exposure history),” said Salvaterra. “I need more time to complete our investigation.”

The four cases announced Friday is the largest single day increase. However, Salvaterra says it’s not unexpected.

“We are on the steep incline of the curve,” she said. “We probably will start seeing more cases being reported within each 24-hour period going forward. But in addition, we need to remember we’ve had a backlog of tests. Some of these people have been waiting days for their test (results). So it really isn’t a reflection so much – yet – of that steep incline. It’s more of a reflection of the some of the delays we’ve been experiencing getting those test results.

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“We do expect things to pick up and we will be seeing more cases being reported as the outbreak continues to spread,” she added.

The health unit’s first confirmed case of COVID-19 — a man in his 30s who travelled to Europe and was associated with Trent University’s Peterborough campus — has been resolved.

Cases can be considered resolved if a person is no longer showing symptoms 14 days after the onset of showing symptoms.

The other remaining cases all remain at home in self-isolation, Salvaterra said.

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