TORONTO (Reuters) – Health officials in Ontario said Saturday that two confirmed cases of the new coronavirus variant first discovered in the United Kingdom have appeared in the Canadian province.
Scientists say the variant is about 40% -70% more transferable than the original strain. Several other countries, including Australia, Italy and the Netherlands, say they have discovered cases of the new species.
The Canadian cases, identified in a couple in southern Ontario with no known travel history, exposure, or risky contact, came when the province was shut down on Saturday.
“This further reinforces the need for Ontarians to stay at home as much as possible and to continue to follow all public health advice, including the provincial shutdown measures beginning today,” Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’s Associate Chief Medical Officer, said in a statement.
Ontario reported 4,301 new cases in the past two days on Saturday, with the province seeing more than 2,000 cases per day for 12 consecutive days.
Last week, Canada extended until January 6 a ban on passenger flights arriving from Britain and expanded enhanced screening and monitoring measures for travelers arriving from South Africa, citing the emergence of the more contagious variant.
Scientists say there is no evidence that vaccines currently in use – including one made by Pfizer and BioNtech – or other COVID-19 shots under development do not protect against this variant.
Canada began rolling out the Pfizer vaccine earlier this month and began distributing Moderna Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine nationwide last Thursday.
Canada has reported 541,616 cases of COVID-19 so far, including 14,800 deaths.
Reporting by Amran Abocar; Edited by Matthew Lewis and Daniel Wallis