Hamilton actively monitored for fast-spreading COVID variant
COVID-19 is spreading so rapidly in Hamilton that Public Health Ontario is actively conducting surveillance for B117 and other variants.
So far, 144 positive COVID-19 samples from Hamilton have undergone genome sequencing and no variant cases have been detected.
Hamilton was selected as an area for genomic surveillance given that this region was identified as one of the province's hot spots,'" Public Health Ontario (PHO) said in a statement.
The other hot spots are Toronto, Peel, York, Windsor-Essex and Durham.
Given the rapid growth of cases in certain areas of Ontario, PHO is ... actively conducting surveillance of positive samples," the statement said.
Provincial projections announced Tuesday showed B117, also known as the U.K. variant, drops the doubling time for cases to 10 days from the current 35 to 40.
This new variant is not more lethal, but because it spreads so much more quickly, if it gets out into the community, there is no question we will have more cases and many more deaths," said Adalsteinn (Steini) Brown, dean of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. People will die from the virus itself and from an overloaded health system that is unable to respond to their needs."
So far 14 cases of B117 have been found in Ontario with three having no connection to international travel.
If it's confirmed the cases were community acquired that is a serious concern the vaccine won't be able to address quickly enough," said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario's associate chief medical officer of health.
PHO has sequenced 1,850 samples from Sept. 1 to Jan. 8. It's currently sequencing 250 samples per week with plans to increase to at least 350 within the next three weeks.
It is also screening 500 to 600 samples a week to determine if any need further testing.
PHO has ... developed a screening test that is able to pick up a signal for the U.K. and South African variants," said the statement. Positive samples would then undergo additional sequencing to determine if they are actually those variants."
Joanna Frketich is a Hamilton-based reporter covering health for The Spectator. Reach her via email: jfrketich@thespec.com