Officials in the Canadian province of Ontario said on Saturday that they had detected two confirmed cases of the new coronavirus strain that first appeared in the United Kingdom (UK).
Conformable Reuters, officials identified the new variant in a couple in southern Ontario with no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contact.
The report comes at a time when the province has imposed a new blockade, with 4,301 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the past two days and more than 2,000 infections a day for 12 consecutive days.
“This further strengthens the need for Ontarians to stay home as long as possible and to follow all public health advice, including the province’s closure measures starting today,” Dr. Barbara Yaffe, associate medical officer, said Saturday. from Ontario, Reuters reported.
While experts are still analyzing the origins and transmission of the new strain, scientists believe the variant is about 40 to 70 percent more transmissible than the original.
A study launched this week of The Center for Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine put the rate at 56 percent more contagious.
Canada last week extended a ban on passenger flights coming from the UK until January 6 and extended control and monitoring measures in South Africa due to the growth of the new strain.
It is unclear whether the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech and approved by Canada and other countries earlier this month is effective in preventing this variant.
Modern he said in a statement On Wednesday, his vaccine will likely be able to protect people from the new strain, adding that he planned to conduct tests to confirm the vaccine’s effectiveness.
Canada on Wednesday authorized use of the Modern coronavirus vaccine for wide use, paving the way for the distribution of the second vaccine throughout the country.
The vaccine is indicated for use in people 18 years of age or older. Moderna conducts additional studies in children over the age of 12, so that the guidelines could be revised in the future.
As of Saturday, Canada had nearly 541,000 COVID-19 cases, with more than 14,700 deaths from the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Several other countries, including Australia, Italy and the Netherlands have also reported cases of a new infectious strain.