A woman in her 60s has been confirmed as the London-area's fifth case of COVID-19.
Her case is among 23 newly confirmed cases reported by the Ontario Ministry of Health on Wednesday.
How the woman contracted the virus is not yet known. She is currently in self-isolation.
The Middlesex London Health Unit is monitoring the woman's condition.
A health care worker at the London Health Sciences Centre in her 20s who recently travelled to Las Vegas and a Crown attorney in her 40s who recently travelled to St. Maarten were announced on Tuesday as the area's third and fourth cases. A Strathroy Medical Clinic worker in her 50s was confirmed as the area's second case of COVID-19 over the weekend.
All three of the women remain in isolation.
London's first case, a Western University student in her 20s, has fully recovered since testing positive for the virus at the end of January.
Dr. Alex Summers, Middlesex London's associate medical officer of health, has said the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases not only in this region, but across the country was expected.
"We know that the cases are going to go up. That we just know is going to happen," said Summers. "The whole objective now is how do we make that rise in cases go as slow as possible and flatten that curve... So we are trying to flatten the increase because that will help our health system be able to manage anybody whose quite sick and also make sure we don't expose those who are most vulnerable ."
One of the control measures the local health unit has taken to help stop the spread of the virus and ensure hospitals don't get bogged down was the opening of a COVID-19 assessment centre. The special clinic at Oakridge Arena began seeing members of the public on Monday. Over the first two days, more than 500 people arrived at the facility.
"Not everybody required assessment. Many people were seen in their cars, given some information, and some reassurance," said Summers. "One of the things that we are trying to remind people about these assessment centres is that if you don't have symptoms, such as a cough or a fever, please don't go to the assessment centre. We really need to save it for the people that need to be seen."
Summers added that a self-assessment tool is available through the Ontario Ministry of Health's website.
Provincially, 13,897 people have been tested for COVID-19, 205 of which have tested positive. Another 3,380 cases remain under investigation and five have been resolved. To date, there has been one death related to the virus in Ontario -- a 77-year-old man from the Muskoka region who had underlying health issues.
