First cases of omicron COVID variant confirmed in Canada

Ontario has confirmed Canada’s first two cases of the omicron COVID-19 variant.

Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and Dr. Kieran Moore, Chief Medical Officer of Health, said Sunday both cases were confirmed in individuals in Ottawa with recent travel from Nigeria.

“Public Health is conducting case and contact management and the patients are in isolation,” they said in a statement.

“In order to rapidly identify, trace and isolate COVID-19 and its variants, Ontario has already expanded eligibility for provincially-funded COVID-19 PCR testing at all testing centres to individuals who have returned from, or travelled in, the following locations between November 1st and December 6th, 2021: South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe,” read the statement from Ontario health officials.

Dr. Moore will hold an availability at 9:30 a.m. on Monday to share an update following confirmation of the variant’s presence in Ontario.

The federal government recently banned visitors from seven countries in southern Africa.

Nigeria is not among the countries listed on either the Ontario or federal lists.

Global Affairs Canada has issued a travel advisory asking all Canadians to avoid travel to the region. Currently, there are no direct flights from southern Africa to Canada.

Elliott and Moore’s statement urges the federal government to take stronger action at the border, suggesting that everyone be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival, not just before leaving for Canada.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer, says while these are Canada’s first confirmed cases, it expects that other cases of omicron will be found across the country.

“Early data suggest that the Omicron variant may be more transmissible but evidence is limited at this time. There is ongoing international data gathering to determine the impact of this variant on severity of illness and on vaccine effectiveness,” she said in a statement released Sunday.

Alberta’s top doctor said public health officials in her province were contacting people who had travelled from “one of the countries of interest” in the past 14 days to tell them to self-isolate.

“We are working with health officials across the country to monitor the Omicron situation closely,” Dr. Deena Hinshaw tweeted on Sunday. “There are currently no confirmed cases of this COVID-19 variant in Alberta.”

The federal health minister said Ottawa is continuing to assess the situation but said Sunday’s news should not be cause for alarm.

“This development demonstrates that our monitoring system is working,” Jean-Yves Duclos said in a statement.

“I know that this new variant may seem concerning, but I want to remind Canadians that vaccination, in combination with public health and individual protective measures, is working to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and its variants in our communities.”

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report