UK Variant B.1.1.7 SARS CoV2 Sequence From Bradford West Gwillimbury Canada

[niman]

The sequence from the seventh case in the Barrie area has not been released.  A UNK number will be assigned and updated when sequences becomes available

Canada/ON-PHL-21-UNK167/2021 Bradford West Gwillimbury Ontario Canada

After confirming six cases of the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant at Roberta Place long-term care home in Barrie, Ont. on Saturday, officials said Sunday that further genomic surveillance work revealed a seventh case of the variant in the area.

Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit officials said this seventh person “had close contact with a person who is also part of a COVID-19 outbreak at Bradford Valley Care Community, a long-term care home (LTCH) in Bradford West Gwillimbury.”

https://www.cp24.com/news/seventh-case-of-highly-contagious-uk-coronavirus-variant-detected-in-simcoe-muskoka-1.5280074

[niman]

Canada/ON-PHL-21-UNK167/2021 Bradford West Gwillimbury

map update

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1aQDSL2LwQFbuoCAg_nIOPK8D-LIJ5MYd&ll=44.08942806232144%2C-79.60399973891631&z=11

[niman]

Seventh case of highly-contagious UK coronavirus variant detected in Simcoe-Muskoka

Bradford Valley Care Community is seen in a Google streetview image.

Published Sunday, January 24, 2021 1:00PM EST
Last Updated Sunday, January 24, 2021 2:01PM EST

A seventh person infected with a highly-contagious coronavirus variant from the UK has been linked to a second long-term care home outbreak in the Simcoe-Muskoka public health region, officials said Sunday.

After confirming six cases of the B.1.1.7 coronavirus variant at Roberta Place long-term care home in Barrie, Ont. on Saturday, officials said Sunday that further genomic surveillance work revealed a seventh case of the variant in the area.

Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit officials said this seventh person “had close contact with a person who is also part of a COVID-19 outbreak at Bradford Valley Care Community, a long-term care home (LTCH) in Bradford West Gwillimbury.”

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Dr. Charles Gardner says the infected person works at an unnamed retail outlet somewhere in Simcoe County. He would not disclose the exact nature of this person’s contact to those involved in the Bradford Valley outbreak, citing privacy concerns.

He said this seventh infected person had not travelled abroad.

The retail outlet, which offers curbside pickup only, has two other people associated to it who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Gardner said it was a “fortuitous finding” that led officials to discover this seventh case.

“(The lab that tested the sample) had a screen that had the possibility that it was as variant of concern and when that was triggered, it later turned out to be positive. The manner in which it was discovered was unlinked to our investigation at Roberta Place.”

He added that not all labs that test samples in Simcoe-Muskoka have the screen that can indicate the presence of the B.1.1.7 variant.

Standard PCR testing using samples collected from nasal swabs can detect genetic deletion or signal that strongly suggests the presence of the B.1.1.7 variant.

The signal is then confirmed through the use of genomic sequencing, a lengthy lab process that takes at least 24 hours even when rushed.

But PCR testing strugg

He said the happenstance nature of how the latest case was found reinforces the need for much more screening to be done across the province.

There have now been 21 confirmed cases of B.1.1.7 detected in Ontario, with federal and provincial labs now screening as many as 600 positive samples per week to find it.

“I believe that we need to grow the surveillance system the lab system, the expectations about testing at this time given that we're seeing more and more risk from this variant,” Gardner said.
We'd be better off if we had a more routine process for screening for such.”

Bradford Valley Care Community currently has six cases among its 230 residents and three among its 260 staff members.

All willing staff and residents of that home were given their first shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 15.

“Approximately 60 percent of team members and 96 percent of residents at Bradford Valley have received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine,” Dr. Andrea Moser, senior medical officer of Sienna Senior Living, which owns and operates the home, said Sunday.

In the Roberta Place outbreak where six variant cases were found, virtually all residents of the home were infected and 40 have died so far.

Another person, an essential caregiver of a resident, has also succumbed to COVID-19 infection.

Including staff, outside care providers and close contacts of those people, the total size of the outbreak linked to Roberta Place has grown to 257 positive cases.

Six residents and one staff member are currently in hospital.

Gardner says he is “fully convinced” that all 257 infected in the Roberta Place outbreak have the B.1.1.7 variant.

Scientists in the UK and Denmark have found the new variant to be about 50 per cent more transmissible than “wild” variants that predominant in Ontario.

The UK variant can bind to human cells more easily than other variants, generate higher viral loads and may be more deadly in certain circumstances.

The discovery of B.1.1.7 and two other variants originating from South Africa and Brazil has prompted countries including Canada to require negative COVID-19 tests from incoming international air passengers.

Speaking about the discovery of the seventh B.1.1.7 case in Simcoe, Long-Term Care Minister Merrilee Fullerton said it highlights the need for more scrutiny of incoming travellers at airports.

“The situation at Roberta Place underscores the need for everyone to stay home to stop the spread of COVID-19 and help protect our long-term care homes, especially as we find more evidence of new variants in our communities,” she said Sunday. “It is also a stark reminder of the need for greater vigilance at our borders with incoming travellers.”

Earlier this month, Ontario opened up voluntary free PCR testing for COVID-19 upon arrival at Pearson International Airport.

Gardner urged residents of Simcoe-Muskoka to behave as if the UK variant is circulating freely.

“It's important for people to take to heart the very real possibility that it's circulating in the community right now - if not from this cluster than from elsewhere.”

[niman]

JANUARY 24, 2021

UK COVID VARIANT MAY HAVE SPREAD OUTSIDE BARRIE TO BRADFORD

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

SIMCOE-MUSKOKA — Another suspected case of the United Kingdom variant outside Barrie shows “the very real possibility it is circulating in community,” Dr. Charles Gardner  said today.

The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU) was informed late yesterday by Public Health Ontario Laboratory of an additional individual with the United Kingdom (UK) variant of COVID-19 within the region.

They say this individual had close contact with a person who is also part of a COVID-19 outbreak at Bradford Valley Care Community, a long-term care home (LTCH) in Bradford West Gwillimbury southeast of Barrie.

As such, SMDHU is currently investigating if this outbreak is also due to the UK variant of COVID-19.

The home is owned by Sienna Senior Living, which owns Muskoka Shores in Gravenhurst where they report a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 in an outbreak declared there Friday, Jan. 22.

Gardner said the latest LTC case in Bradford is in addition to the massive outbreak at Roberta Place in Barrie, which has claimed the lives of 40 people, including seven more residents and a family caregiver since yesterday.

The UK B.1.1.7 variant is more easily transmitted, resulting in much larger numbers of cases in a very rapid fashion.

Gardner, medical officer of health for the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit (SMDHU), added in a media Zoom call this afternoon that as a result he’d like to see a more “robust” regimen of wider public testing for the new variant linked to Africa and Brazil.

Right now regular COVID testing does not include the same genome sequencing that identified 127 residents and 86 staff in Barrie and now at Bradford Valley Care Community.

He said it’s safe to “assume” that the variant is responsible for all those cases without the added testing of each person.

And that 42 other cases of COVID identified though primary contacts with those at Roberta Place may be linked.

This after confirmation yesterday that genome sequencing on all six COVID samples from Roberta Place were identified as the UK variant that has proven to be highly contagious and easily transmitted.

“The rapid spread, high attack rate and the devastating impact on residents and staff at Roberta Place long-term care home has been heartbreaking for all,” said Gardner. “Confirmation of the variant, while expected, does not change our course of action. We remain diligent in doing everything we can to prevent further spread.”

He said this resident in Bradford had close contact with a person who is also part of a COVID outbreak at Bradford Valley Care Community, a long-term care home (LTCH) in Bradford West Gwillimbury.

Gardner said SMDHU is investigating all other connections to the individual who tested positive for the UK variant, including a curbside-only retail setting and others who may have used the same service.

The outbreak at the Roberta Place long-term care facility — but not at its retirement home next door — was first declared Jan. 8 among all but two residents. In addition, two essential visitors and three external partners have tested positive, one of them dying in the past day.

On Wednesday, the health unit confirmed preliminary lab testing of six cases identified a high likelihood that there was a COVID-19 variant of concern.

The second test results released yesterday — a whole genome sequencing test — determined the exact COVID-19 variant as the UK B.1.1.7 variant.

This variant of concern is more easily transmitted, resulting in much larger numbers of cases in a very rapid fashion.

Yesterday the health unit in partnership with the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre accelerated its immunization program, with its mobile immunization team vaccinating all eligible residents and staff at Roberta Place Retirement Lodge retirement home against COVID-19.

Beginning this weekend, the health unit, in collaboration with Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre, (RVH) began immunizing residents at the other retirement homes throughout Simcoe Muskoka.

In addition, as of Jan. 16 eligible residents of all long term care facilities in Simcoe Muskoka have received their first dose of immunization against COVID-19.

As for the Bradford cases, Gardner said: “Given this situation, we are working together in partnership with the residence to implement additional measures to contain the spread while pursuing the necessary tests to determine if it is the UK variant of COVID-19 that is the cause of this outbreak.”

The outbreak was declared at Bradford Valley Care Community Jan. 14.

On Saturday, Jan. 23, four of 230 residents and three of 260 staff tested positive for COVID-19 and further testing will be done to determine if this is indeed the UK variant.

He said that while the outbreak is “well under control at this time with a relatively low case count, the possibility of this being due to the UK variant needs to be assessed and managed, given its increased transmissibility.”

Dr. Andrea Moser, Sienna Senior Living chief medical officer for the chain of homes, said in the health unit release today: “We are being extremely vigilant in our monitoring for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and are taking all of the necessary steps to protect the safety of our residents and team members. We are working proactively with Public Health and community partners as fighting the virus will require everyone’s expertise and teamwork.”

On Jan. 15 most of the residents in Bradford Valley Care Community were provided with vaccination by SMDHU staff as a protective measure against COVID-19.

SMDHU says on Jan. 16 residents of all the LTCHs in Simcoe Muskoka were offered their first dose of immunization against COVID-19. Although many of the staff have received their first vaccination, steps are being taken to ensure that all of them will have access to the vaccine at this time.

“Approximately 60 percent of team members and 96 per cent of residents at Bradford Valley have received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine,” said Moser. “We appreciate all the efforts from our partners in the community with the rollout of the vaccine and will continue working closely with them as additional doses are available for deployment.”

The health unit says everyone is reminded to continue to strictly follow public health measures to reduce and prevent transmission of the virus: wear a mask, physically distance from those outside your household, wash your hands frequently, leave your home only for essential reasons (in keeping with the provincial Stay at Home Order), and if you have symptoms self-isolate at home and get tested for COVID-19.”

For more information, visit SMDHU’s COVID-19 Vaccine and Immunization web page or call Health Connection to speak with a public health professional weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 705-721-7520 (1-877-721-7520). More information about the vaccine and immunization can also be found at ontario.ca.

Bradford Valley Care Community is the latest site under investigation today for the UK COVID-19 variant.

Email [email protected] or [email protected]

https://muskokatoday.com/2021/01/uk-variant-may-have-spread-outside-barrie-to-bradford/