(Quebec) Five cases of the Omicron variant have now been confirmed in travelers by sequencing in Quebec, the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) said on Wednesday.
No new case of the Omicron variant had been detected in the province since the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, confirmed at a press conference on November 29 the presence of a case in Quebec.
It was at that time a resident of Quebec returning from Nigeria; 115 other travelers returning from southern African countries where the presence of the Omicron variant had been reported were then called upon to isolate themselves and undergo a PCR test.
There is currently no community transmission of the Omicron variant.
The INSPQ is monitoring the situation and carrying out ad hoc investigations by screening detected positive cases of COVID-19.
Among the 1174 positive samples of November 30, all those with a sufficient viral load, that is to say 894 of them, were screened without the presence of the Omicron variant being detected.
The Omicron variant, also designated B.1.1529 by experts, was reported on November 25 in South Africa, and has since been identified in several countries.
Initial summary indications seem to show that Omicron is more transmissible than other strains, while causing less serious complications.