A Canadian cruise passenger currently in isolation has tested presumptively positive for hantavirus, health authorities in Canada's British Columbia province announced on Saturday.

Bonnie Henry, a provincial health officer, said the patient began developing mild symptoms, including fever and headache, two days ago and was taken to a local hospital. The presumptively positive result came back on Friday, and the person is currently being treated in isolation as a positive patient.

The result still awaits final confirmation from a microbiology laboratory over the weekend, Henry said.

The patient is among 10 Canadians nationwide currently placed in isolation due to the cruise ship outbreak. Of the total, four are undergoing a 21-day monitored isolation in British Columbia. Meanwhile, the remaining six are isolated in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. The presumptively positive patient is one of the four undergoing isolation and monitoring in British Columbia; the patient's partner has tested negative for the virus.

Henry emphasized that none of the individuals in isolation had come into contact with the public during their transfer and that all the healthcare workers involved wore full personal protective equipment. She reassured the public that the virus does not have "pandemic potential" and that there is no need for widespread panic.

The outbreak occurred aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius and has led to three deaths so far. The incubation period for hantavirus generally ranges from one to eight weeks.