A man in his 50s has become the first person in Toronto’s shelter system to die of COVID-19, the city’s medical officer of health announced Monday.

The man had been staying at Dixon Hall School House, where an outbreak was declared in April.

He died on May 8, said Dr. Eileen de Villa, speaking at the daily press conference held at city hall to update residents on developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“On behalf of my team, I extend sincerest condolences to this individual’s friends and family and to all others in our community who have lost loved ones to COVID-19,” said de Villa.

Mary-Anne Bédard, general manager of the city’s Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, said there are about nine people from the shelter system being treated in hospital for COVID-19.

Toronto’s shelter system includes 72 different locations across the city providing a wide variety of accommodations to about 7,000 people, including refugees.

De Villa said the outbreak in the Dixon Hall shelter was declared over on May 5. All clients were tested and to prevent further COVID-19 spread in the facility, Toronto Public Health provided guidance to ensure enhanced infection prevention and control, and physical distancing measures were in place.

She said her team investigated all confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the facility and made recommendations on isolation spaces and how to triage clients.

De Villa said that there were 144 new infections in Toronto on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 7,557.

The good news is that the rate of infection is slowing. In the early days of the outbreak the number of new cases in Toronto was doubling approximately every four days. Now, it’s doubling every seven days.

“We should all derive comfort in this, because it is another sign that our work, our work together is slowing down this epidemic,” said de Villa.

Prior to implementing strict public health measures in March, each person in Toronto with COVID-19 infected an average of three people. Now each infected person in Toronto infects on average one other person.

De Villa said that despite this encouraging trend, and despite the fact that in some provinces in Atlantic Canada families are being allowed to mingle with other family households that have been isolating, her recommendation is that residents of Toronto continue to stay close to home.

Fifty per cent of all newly confirmed cases on Sunday, reported by the province, were in Toronto, she pointed out.

“We need to keep up our commitment to physical distancing to continue to slow the spread of the virus so that we can safely reopen our city and get back to enjoying time with our loved ones,” she said.

“Maintain your household bubble for now.”