Two people from Ottawa who returned from a trip to Nigeria have tested positive for the recently identified variant of concern that was first detected in southern Africa, Ontario health officials reported Sunday.
They are Canada’s first two cases of the B.1.1.529 variant, also known as omicron.
JomogNews Nigeria reports that confirmed or suspected cases of the new variant have already emerged in several other European countries, in Israel and in Hong Kong, days after it was identified by researchers in South Africa.
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said in a joint statement that the patients are in isolation and Ottawa Public Health is conducting case and contact management.
“Ontario is prepared and ready to respond to this new variant,” the statement read.
“The Ontario COVID-19 Genomic Network is continuing to actively monitor for all potential variants circulating in the province, including the Omicron variant, and is conducting genomic sequencing on 100 per cent of eligible COVID-19 positive samples.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), officials in South Africa reported the variant on Nov. 24, with the first confirmed case coming from a specimen collected on Nov. 9.
The WHO said some of the omicron variant’s mutations are concerning. It added that preliminary information appears to show that there is an increased risk of reinfection with omicron compared to other variants of concern.
Following the emergence of omicron, several countries, including Canada, announced travel restrictions for southern African countries. Nigeria is not on the list of countries affected by Canada’s travel ban.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said in a statement that he has spoken with his provincial counterpart about Canada’s first two confirmed cases of omicron.
“This development demonstrates that our monitoring system is working,” he said.
“As the monitoring and testing continues with provinces and territories, it is expected that other cases of this variant will be found in Canada.”
Cases of the omicron variant continue to be detected in more countries around the world. On Sunday, Australia and The Netherlands also confirmed their first cases of the variant
