44 cases of omicron variant now confirmed in B.C., health officials say
CBC
There are now more than 40 cases of the omicron variant in B.C., health officials confirmed Tuesday.
The Ministry of Health said 44 cases were confirmed as of Sunday.
Fraser Health and Vancouver Coastal Health have the majority of the cases, but at least one case has been confirmed in all five health authorities.
"We have transmission in the community now and we are learning more and more from the global community about what that means," Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said during a live news conference.
Henry said there is still "a lot of uncertainty" about how omicron will affect cases and hospitalization rates in B.C. as there are still several key unknowns about the variant.
One outstanding question is how virulent omicron is compared to past variants, like alpha and delta.
"There is consensus that it spreads faster than delta ... but how much more is challenging to know," she said. "But what we do know is if cases go up, the percentage of people needing hospital care goes up."
Only seven of the identified cases involved people who were not vaccinated.
Twenty of the cases involved people who had recently travelled to other countries like Egypt, Germany, Iran, Portugal, Nigeria, South Africa and the United States.
The majority of omicron cases in Island Health are linked to an outbreak among students at the University of Victoria.
At the national level, Canada's chief public health officer said Tuesday there is "great spread potential" with omicron and the situation in Canada is a "few days or maybe a week" behind the U.K. — where British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the caseload is doubling every two or three days as the variant takes hold.
CBC News has learned high-level conversations are taking place about implementing more travel restrictions in light of rising case numbers in the country.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is meeting with Canadian premiers Tuesday at 3 p.m. PT.
Officials in B.C. expect there will be more local cases of omicron identified as lab sequencing continues.
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