We’ll hear from Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of health today about the latest on Canada’s first two cases of a new COVID-19 variant of concern.
Two cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in the Ottawa area, the first two in Canada. The people, who travelled to Ontario from Nigeria, are isolating.
Dr. Lisa Barrett, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Dalhousie who specializes in infectious disease and immunology, says they don’t yet know a lot about this version of the Coronavirus including its transmissibility. However, she says it’s likely that there are more cases in Canada than just the two in Ontario.
Dr. Barrett says it’s important to keep a close eye on it.
She expects to see more of the virus and that it’s important to keep the number of cases limited until we can get more people vaccinated over the next 6 to 8 months. It’s also important to track it in order to determine how we want our vaccines to look in the coming months and seasons.
Portuguese health authorities have identified 13 cases of the new coronavirus variant among team members of a professional soccer club.
Health ministers from the G7 nations, including Canada, meet in emergency session today.