Ontario's coronavirus tally hits 142 as province confirms 39 more patients

Public health officials are currently investigating 1,316 potential cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus in Ontario, with 142 people now confirmed to have contracted the virus province-wide.

The provincial government updated its dedicated COVID-19 website on Sunday morning to reflect that 38 new patients had been added to the growing tally of those infected amid a global pandemic outbreak.

Among the newly-confirmed positive cases are 14 people from Toronto, five from Peel, five from Ottawa, three from Hamilton, three from York, two from Waterloo, two from Durham, two from Simcoe-Muskoka, one from Haliburton and one from Niagara.

The ages and genders of all newly-announced patients are currently listed as "pending" save for one St. Catharines woman in her 50s who recently travelled to Egypt.

The current status of #COVID19 in #Ontario as of March 15 10:30am: 142 cases (137 confirmed positive, 5 resolved) - #COVID19ontario #covid19Canada #COVID19Update #onpoli #cdnpoli #COVID_19 #CoronaVirusUpdates Data source: https://t.co/5KzYWGOXyR #onhealth pic.twitter.com/LKSrr7jKWl

— Dr. Jennifer Kwan (@jkwan_md) March 15, 2020

As of 9 a.m. om March 15, Canada's federal government was reporting a total of 249 positive cases of COVID-19 from coast to coast.

"At this time, the public health risk associated with COVID-19 is low for the general population in Canada but this could change rapidly," reads the Public Health Agency of Canada's website.

"There is an increased risk of more severe outcomes for Canadians aged 65 and over, with compromised immune systems [and] with underlying medical conditions."

The Canadian government is also advising all citizens to avoid non-essential travel outside the country until further notice in light of "increased health risks for Canadian travellers abroad."

For the latest updates on COVID-19, please follow @CPHO_Canada and @GovCanHealth. @PattyHajdu is also providing important information on Canada’s response to the virus, and will continue to do so as the situation evolves. For more info, visit ➡️ https://t.co/qsS8swKSBs pic.twitter.com/87yX30q9M8

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) March 11, 2020

A total of 142,539 have been infected by the 2019 novel coronavirus as of Sunday morning, according to the World Health Organization, with 5,393 deaths now confirmed.

With only 18 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, China — where the outbreak originated in late December — appears to be seeing a marked slowdown in rates of transmission.

This is not the case globally, with 61,518 cases of the disease now confirmed across 133 countries outside of China, 9,751 of them within the past 24 hours alone.

"Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China," said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday.

"More cases are now being reported every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic."