On Sunday, Canada announced that it had discovered the first cases of the novel Covid Omicron strain in two patients who had just visited Nigeria.
The two incidents are in the capital, Ottawa, according to the Ontario government.
Both patients are being held in isolation, according to federal and provincial officials in Ontario, as public health experts investigate any probable interactions.
In a statement, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said, “I was notified today by the Public Health Agency of Canada that testing and surveillance of COVID-19 cases has verified two cases of the Omicron variation of concern in Ontario.”
“As surveillance and testing continue, it is predicted that more cases of this type will be discovered in Canada,” he told France24.com.
However, the Federal Government maintained that the new COVID-19 type was not yet available in Nigeria.
Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, the Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, said in a statement on Sunday that the center is prioritizing sequencing of newly collected samples from SARS-COV-2 positive travelers from all countries.
Virologists have criticized the Federal Government’s choice not to test South African delegates upon their arrival in the country on Monday (today), despite a newly found coronavirus strain in the region.
Omicron has been designated as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organization, and nations around the world are banning travel from southern Africa, where the new strain was initially discovered, as well as taking other extra safeguards.
According to the WHO, finding out if there are major changes in transmissibility, severity, or consequences for Covid vaccinations, diagnostics, and therapies could take several weeks.
©Standard Gazette, 2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s publisher is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Standard Gazette with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.