Two Suspect Omicron COVID Cases Hamilton Ontario Canada ex-South Africa

[niman]

 two Hamilton residents recently returned from travelling to South Africa.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/omicron-hamilton-1.6266568

Edited November 29, 2021 by niman

[niman]

2 potential omicron variant COVID-19 cases in Hamilton under investigation

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Expert says public shouldn't panic and should continue to follow rules and get vaccinated

 

Bobby Hristova · CBC News · Posted: Nov 29, 2021 12:46 PM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

 

Ontario chief medical officer Dr. Kieran Moore said two omicron cases under investigation are in the Hamilton area. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)

Ontario's chief medical officer of health says the province is investigating two potential cases of a new COVID-19 variant in Hamilton.

Dr. Kieran Moore said, during a Monday news conference, the two omicron cases are awaiting whole genome sequencing and Hamilton public health said the results should be ready in "the coming days."

 

Moore said Hamilton's public health unit is "doing active case and tracing management."

Michelle Baird, Hamilton's COVID-19 operations chief, said the two Hamilton residents recently returned from travelling to South Africa.

Omicron, the new variant, was detected in South Africa and was linked to a spike in cases there but didn't necessarily originate in the region.

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Asked about the residents' symptoms, Baird said there was "nothing out of the ordinary" and said both people are isolating, but she wouldn't say when the cases were detected and how many close contacts are isolating, citing privacy concerns.

This comes as Canada has confirmed two cases in Ottawa and is investigating two more potential cases in the capital city. The country also barred all foreign nationals who have travelled through South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini or Mozambique in the last 14 days from entering Canada.

Hamilton public health said anyone who was in those countries within 14 days before arriving in Hamilton should self-isolate from people in their household and get a COVID-19 test. The people they live with should also self-isolate and get tested.

"To date, these are the only two COVID-19 cases that we are aware of in Hamilton that had travelled to any of the indicated areas," Baird said.

Baird added the delta variant make up 99 per cent of local cases, so there isn't enough information about omicron to warrant changing public health measures.

More cases expected to pop up in Ontario

Moore said he "would not be surprised if we find more in Ontario" and added there are still many unanswered questions about the variant.

"We need to understand if this is a virulent infection, if it makes people significantly sick or leads them to hospitalization. We really don't have that information yet," he said.

The province said in a media release about the variant the best defence is "stopping it at our border" and said Ontario is prepared and ready to respond" to the omicron variant.