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The Ministry of Health has confirmed there are four new coronavirus cases in Ontario, bringing the total in the province to 26.
This includes a man in his 40s who recently returned from Las Vegas and subsequently took various forms of public transit before being tested, including the TTC, GO Transit, and Mississauga's MiWay Transit.
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On Friday, Dr. Eileen de Villa, chief medical officer of health for Toronto, announced the man took public transit between March 2 and March 4. However, Dr. de Villa says the risk to the public still remains low.
Dr. de Villa said the man took transit from Bathurst TTC station westbound to Islington TTC station just before 9 am on all three of those days. He also travelled from the Islington TTC station to his workplace using the 108 N MiWay express bus each day.
When travelling home, the man went from his workplace to Yorkdale TTC station using the 27 Milton GO bus, with travel occurring just after 6 pm on those days. He then travelled from Yorkdale TTC station to St. George TTC just after 6 pm. The final part of his trip home involved transit from St. George TTC station to Bathurst TTC station around 6:45 pm.
On the evenings of March 2 and 3, the man then boarded the 7 Bathurst bus between 7:10 and 7:15 pm.
On March 4, the man also travelled from Bathurst TTC station to the 511 Bathurst streetcar around 7:20. He then initiated travel on the 511 streetcar route from Dundas and Bathurst northbound to Bathurst Station around 10:15 pm. He then boarded the 7 Bathurst bus around 10:20 pm from the station. He is now at home in self-isolation, officials say.
The TTC says based on the information given about the man's travel patterns, the transit agency is now in the process of identifying specific vehicles the man rode on the days indicated.
"Toronto Public Health continues to assure the TTC and the cit that the risk of exposure for both TTC employees and customers remains low," reads a statement from the transit agency.
Anne Marie Aikins, a spokesperson for Metrolinx, says they are aware of new updates from Toronto Public Health and that it's "good to hear that the risk of transmission of COVID-19 on public transit remains low."
Metrolinx says it continues to take proactive steps to keep customers and staff both informed and safe in response to COVID-19 and the news from Toronto Public Health that a person who travelled on public transit this week has tested positive.
The transit agency said drivers on the route the patient travelled on have been informed and the buses in question are being pulled out for a thorough cleaning as a precaution.
Additionally, Metrolinx says out of an "abundance of caution," it's using a long-acting antimicrobial agent on GO Transit vehicles and distributing hand sanitizer at stations and on GO buses.
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Bonnie Crombie, Mayor of Mississauga, said MiWay staff were notified by Peel Public Health (PPH) of the man and that staff are now working with PPH to understand the man's travel patterns.
"There is no evidence of community spread of the virus," said Mayor Crombie in a statement.
She added that people who travelled on the same route as the patient and are feeling healthy with no symptoms and receive no call from PPH should go about their daily lives as normal.
