New COVID-19 variant posing new questions about public health, individual decisions

Many Albertans seem to be taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the latest COVID-19 variant in the province. 

Many Albertans seem to be taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to the latest COVID-19 variant in the province. 

Four cases of the new Omicron strain have been confirmed by government officials to CTV News. The highly-transmissible "Kraken" strain is becoming dominant in many countries, and some experts suspect Canada won't be far behind. 

But at the Calgary International Airport, that doesn't appear to have changed the behaviour of many travellers.  

Masks were few and far between Thursday afternoon and many of those jet-setting said they won't don a face covering unless it's "absolutely necessary."

Some experts think that time is closing in. 

"If we could delay (the strain's dominance) until spring, we would be in such a better place," biologist Gosia Gasperowicz said. "And we could do much, much more."

Gasperowicz is just one voice currently calling for new public health measures to help fend off the variant.