'Not something to play around with': Experts assessing potential impact of Omicron variant

As jurisdictions worldwide take precautions to prevent the spread of the new Omicron variant, health experts are scrambling to figure out much of an impact it could have on Alberta.

As jurisdictions worldwide take precautions to prevent the spread of the new Omicron variant, health experts are scrambling to figure out much of an impact it could have on Alberta.

The World Health Organization (WHO) designated B.1.1.529 a variant of concern on Friday, naming it Omicron. The WHO says the first cases were reported from South Africa last week, identified cases are now being reported in Belgium, Botswana, Israel, and Hong Kong. 

As of publication, no confirmed cases of the newest COVID-19 variant were reported in Canada. Yet, some experts believe it is only a matter of time.

"With such an interconnected world and travellers going everywhere, it's very, very hard to keep a variant just in one country," said Sarah Otto, University of British Columbia evolutionary biologist.

Otto works with the B.C. COVID-19 modelling team and has studied variants throughout the pandemic.

"This variant is coming, and we don't know what it brings," Otto told CTV News. "It has an uncharacteristically large number of mutations. It's actually not very closely related to any of the other variants."

According to Otto, what health officials know so far is that the variant appears to spread quickly.