More contagious virus strain infects 10

Unclear how far variant spotted in Barrie home has spread in Canada

The race is on to determine how widely a new variant of the COVID-19 virus is spreading after 10 cases were confirmed in Toronto and it swept through a long-term-care home in Barrie, infecting nearly every resident and killing more than 40 people.

“We know the U.K. B.1.1.7 variant is in Ontario. We must assume it will spread,” said Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto’s medical officer of health, said Monday at a news conference at city hall.

De Villa said that the more contagious strain was responsible for the outbreak at Barrie’s Roberta Place, infecting 127 of 129 residents and 90 staff. Forty residents and an essential caregiver have died as a result of the outbreak.

“This is a terrible price paid and a stark warning for the rest of us,” de Villa said.

Dr. Vinita Dubey, associate medical officer of health for Toronto, said Monday that Public Health Ontario has confirmed 10 cases of the variant in the city.

Estimates are that the B.1.1.7 strain — one of several new variants to have emerged around the world — is up to 70 per cent more infectious.

Last week, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there is evidence that B.1.1.7 is more lethal, and concerns are being raised that variants detected in Brazil and South Africa have features that may make them less susceptible to vaccines.

“The horse is clearly (and unsurprisingly) out of the barn,” said Dr. Andrew Morris, an infectious diseases specialist at

Sinai Health and University Health Network, reacting to news of Toronto’s 10 cases. That doesn’t change what needs to be done, Morris said — public health measures aimed at dropping the number of cases need to be observed.

Morris said there isn’t enough data on how present the variant is in Canada.

“We really don’t know how important this variant will be, but the international experience is that it eventually becomes an issue,” he said. “It is unlikely that we will be ahead with vaccination before the variant becomes a problem unless we continue to successfully drop our numbers.”

De Villa reported 767 new cases in Toronto on Monday, down from the 900-1,000 new cases a day being reported earlier in January. Fifteen more people in the city have died and 13 more admitted to city hospitals, bringing the total number of people hospitalized by the virus to 508.

De Villa said the province is conducting targeted testing to try to determine the spread of the variant.

People seeking COVID-19 testing who have recently travelled internationally or who have come into contact with someone who has travelled internationally are being screened for variants, and studies are being conducted on samples at provincial labs.

In an attempt to get ahead of the new variant’s spread, Toronto Public Health on Monday contacted all long-term-care homes, retirement homes, complex continuing care facilities and rehabilitation hospitals to ask them to review, audit and reinforce their infection prevention and control measures.

“We’re doing the best we can to minimize spread of any variants that may have entered,” de Villa said.

Meanwhile, Toronto’s first vaccination clinic outside of a hospital setting remains closed, after Pfizer interrupted the vaccine supply to Canada to upgrade production at its plant in Belgium.

Fire Chief Matthew Pegg, head of COVID-19 emergency operations and the city’s Immunization Task Force, said there’s been no update on the issue from the province or federal officials. The federal government is responsible for obtaining the vaccines and the province is responsible for distribution. The city is charge of administering the vaccine to residents.

“No updated timelines have been provided to us at this point with respect to the resumption of service at the clinic,” Pegg said.