First case of omicron COVID-19 variant confirmed in Alberta, Hinshaw says
CBC
Alberta's first case of the omicron variant has been confirmed in a traveller who returned to the province from Nigeria and the Netherlands.
"I'm reporting we have now one confirmed case of the omicron variant in Alberta," Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, told a news conference Tuesday.
"This case has been confirmed in a returning traveller from Nigeria and the Netherlands.
"The individual tested positive while asymptomatic and I can confirm this individual has not left quarantine since their arrival from international travel."
Hinshaw said household members have been notified and measures are in place to prevent onward transmission, she said.
"I don't want Albertans to be alarmed. As I mentioned [Monday], we anticipated the arrival of this variant in the province eventually based on what we've seen from previous strains of COVID-19," she said.
"We were well-prepared for this eventuality."
Alberta had already ramped up tracing and testing of COVID-19 cases identified in all returning international travellers in a bid to stay ahead of the variant in the province.
She said the individual, who had been travelling alone, returned to Alberta about one week ago and was tested for COVID-19 on arrival.
Hinshaw said there is typically a time lag between an initial positive test and follow-up testing for variants.
Omicron, a strain that may be more infectious than previous versions of the coronavirus, was declared a variant of concern by the World Health Organization last week.
The Canadian government has already banned travellers from a number of southern African countries in a bid to contain the spread.
Alberta is monitoring 156 travellers who returned from these banned countries in the last two weeks. The travellers were contacted over the weekend, advised of testing and isolation rules and offered testing kits.
The province's current health restrictions are not being beefed up as a result of the single case of omicron — but it also isn't the right time for gathering restrictions to be loosened, Hinshaw said Tuesday.
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