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Omicron COVID-19 variant identified in Fraser Health

The most recent ‘variant of concern’, Omicron, was first detected a few weeks ago in South Africa and as of today has been discovered in British Columbia.

The individual from Fraser Health recently returned from Nigeria, and is currently in self-isolation as public health follows up to trace potential contacts.

To date the Public Health Agency of Canada has identified 204 people in BC who have recently returned home from the affected areas. All these individuals have been sent to receive PCR testing and remain in isolation while waiting for results.

“From the beginning we have been doing whole genome sequencing on any positive COVID-19 test from anybody who has travelled internationally, and that is how we detected our first case today,’ said Dr. Bonnie Henry.

</who>Photo credit: Flickr

The province has been using whole genome sequencing to understand how strains are being transmitted, and to help identify outbreaks over the last number of months.

“There is still a lot that we do not yet know about the Omicron variant, and it will take some weeks for us to get sufficient data to understand this,” explained Henry.

“Enhanced whole genome sequencing as I mentioned, and epidemiological studies will help us understand who is being infected, and whether it’s causing more severe disease.”

She added: “We need this data to understand if this strain of the virus is going to be more transmissible than ones that we’ve seen so far, there are some suggestions that it might be; but whether it will outcompete the delta variants that we’ve seen so far here in BC is yet to be known.”

The Government of Canada has already implemented a number of travel restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, to better understand where transmission is coming from.

This afternoon the federal government announced that they have added Nigeria, Egypt, Malawi to the list of countries involved in the temporary travel ban.

"We can be confident that we are not seeing widespread transmission of this variant in BC yet. We know that these concerning mutations can arise, and where vaccination is low in parts of the world it can spread rapidly," Henry said.

While more data on this VOC is collected, individuals are encouraged to follow public health orders and stay vigilant heading into the holiday season.



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