The Omicron variant, described as “of concern” by the World Health Organization (WHO), has been detected in Canada. Two first cases have been identified in Ontario, a sign according to an expert that it will soon be detected in Quebec.
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliot said on Sunday that the two are in the Ottawa area and were returning from a trip to Nigeria. The B.1.1.529 variant was first detected in South Africa and this prompted the Canadian government to close its borders to foreign nationals who have stayed in seven countries in southern Africa. Nigeria, which is more in West Africa, was not on the list.
Ms Elliot and Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr Kieran Moore said in a statement that Ottawa Public Health is doing case and contact management, and patients have been placed in isolation.
“So far that doesn’t change much. It is certain that we will also see them in Quebec and we should not panic any more for the moment than that, mentions Nathalie Grandvaux, specialist in respiratory viruses and director of the Research Laboratory on the response of the host. CHUM viral infections. It was expected to be detected. From the moment he was identified in South Africa, we knew that we were about two weeks late because it takes about two weeks to get the results ”.
Cases have multiplied, especially in Europe. Cases have been detected in the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom, but also in Israel and Australia.
According to the WHO, it may take several weeks to determine the changes caused by Omicron in terms of contagiousness and severity of the disease, and its implications for vaccines, tests and treatments. It could nevertheless be much more transmissible.
“We must continue to apply public health measures”, thinks Nathalie Grandvaux, insisting on the importance of wearing the mask, ideally procedural or even higher, to limit transmission. “We have had relaxations recently. These are perhaps the places where we are most at risk of transmission. Should these public health standards be revised? For now, I would say no, ”she analyzes.
The reassuring Minister of Health
The Ontario government says it is ready to respond to the arrival of the new variant. “Our hospital and intensive care capacities remain stable and the province continues to report one of the lowest rates of active cases in the country,” said Ms. Elliot and Dr. Moore.
The two nevertheless urged the federal government to take the necessary measures to make point-of-arrival screening mandatory for all travelers, regardless of their origin, to better protect themselves against the spread of this new variant.
For his part, Federal Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos says he was made aware of the situation by the Public Health Agency of Canada. According to him, the rapid identification of these two cases demonstrated the effectiveness of the surveillance system in the country.
Mr. Duclos wanted to reassure the population by declaring “that vaccination, in concert with public health and personal protection measures, is effective in reducing the transmission of COVID-19 and its variants in communities”.
He cautioned, however, that more cases of the Omicron variant are to be expected in Canada.
Studies around Omicron are continuing and Angelique Coetzee, president of the South African Medical Association and who has treated around thirty COVID patients contaminated with the new variant, said on Sunday that he had only found, for the moment, that convalescence without hospitalization.
“I’m not saying there won’t be severe cases, but for now even the patients we’ve seen who weren’t vaccinated have mild symptoms,” she told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
With The Canadian Press and Agence France-Presse