VIRUS VARIANT LINKED TO CARE HOME IN WATERLOO

Officials in Waterloo, Ont., braced for an influx of more infectious COVID-19 cases over the weekend after reporting its first local instance of a new variant that first emerged in the united Kingdom. A region of Waterloo Public Health investigation has traced the patient to another person who travelled internationally, and to a long-term care home outbreak in the region. “We do expect further cases will be identified as more variant testing is completed by Public Health Ontario,” the municipality said in a statement. The case was identified on Friday, with public health noting that the woman’s illness is considered resolved. On Saturday, the region said the variant case has been connected to a COVID-19 outbreak declared at Columbia Forest long-term care home late in december.