BA.2 in Canada: Tam says officials are watching new Omicron subvariant ‘very closely’
Global News
Canada's chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Friday more than 100 cases of BA.2 have been detected in the country so far since November.
As Canada detects more cases of the BA.2 sub-lineage of Omicron, the country’s chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam said Friday that at the moment international data suggests that it could potentially “have an increased advantage on a spread” and that it’s being monitored “very closely.”
The Omicron variant of concern, B.1.1.529, has four sub-lineages: BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2 and BA.3.
The BA.2 sub-lineage of Omicron, which was first detected in November last year, was designated as a variant under investigation by the U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on Friday.
More than 10,000 BA.2 cases have been reported in 47 countries, according to data by cov-lineages.org.
At a federal COVID-19 briefing Friday, Tam said more than 100 cases of BA.2 have been detected in the country so far since November. That’s up from the 51 cases the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed to Global News on Tuesday. PHAC said the cases detected had been mainly from international travellers.
“It could potentially have an increased advantage on a spread. But that doesn’t seem to be any specific increase in hospitalisations or the severe outcomes compared to BA.1, but that’s something we’ll be tracking very closely,” said Tam.
Early analyses suggest BA.2 has an increased growth rate compared to BA.1, according to the U.K. Health Security Agency.
In the meantime, Tam said the “vast majority of identifications” in Canada have been BA.1.
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