National Post (National Edition)
First case of double mutant variant found in Quebec
Suspending flights from India possible
• Canada has identified what's believed to be its first case of the COVID-19 variant that originated in India and is suspected of fuelling the pandemic surge in that country.
The case of the double mutant variant known as B.1.617 has been identified in a patient in the HauteMauricie region of Quebec, north of Trois-Rivières, officials with Quebec's public health laboratory confirmed Wednesday.
The patient tested positive for COVID-19 about two weeks ago, and a sample was sent to the provincial lab for genetic sequencing to determine whether it was among the variants of concern. The patient was vaccinated two months ago.
Under Quebec protocol, the results for anyone who has been vaccinated and later tests positive for COVID-19 are sent for genetic sequencing tests to identify possible variants.
“We have a confirmed case of B.1.617 in HauteMauricie,” said Michel Roger, head of the Quebec's public health laboratory.
Further information on the patient, including their condition, was not available. Officials said they are not certain how the variant was introduced into Quebec.
The variant is considered a double mutant because it has two mutations: E484Q and L425R, both which may be more resistant to vaccines.
With more than 66,000 confirmed variant cases in Canada now, 96 per cent of them are the B.1.1.7, which originated in the U.K. That is twice the number of confirmed variant cases just one week ago.
In a bid to keep even more variants from entering Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the use of quarantine hotels for international air travellers will continue until at least May 21, as will testing requirements for air and land-border arrivals.
He defended the government against criticism it didn't move fast enough to enforce quarantines for travellers, but said they are considering additional measures such as stopping flights from India.
“We are continuing to look at more and I have asked our officials to look carefully at, for example, what the U.K. has done very recently on suspending flights from India,” he said.
Although Canada's borders are officially closed, thousands of people, mostly Canadians, still cross into the country every week. Health Canada says about one per cent of international air travellers are testing positive for COVID-19 during their three-day quarantine, but can't yet provide data for how many tested positive after 10 days.
India has reported more than 250,000 new cases of COVID-19 daily this week and doctors are investigating whether the B.1.617 variant may be part of the reason.
The country's health and welfare ministry acknowledged the presence of the so-called “double mutant” at the end of March, but has yet to confirm whether it's responsible for rising infections. “Higher transmissibility of this variant is not established as yet,” it said.
Researchers are trying to determine whether B.1.617 is more deadly than other concerning variants. Evidence suggests that variants originating in Brazil and South Africa are more transmissible — spreading easily and quickly.
In the past two weeks, 117 international flights arrived in Canada with at least one passenger who later tested positive for COVID-19, including 29 flights from Delhi, 20 from the United States and 24 from Europe.
Last December, Canada suspended flights from the U.K. for just over two weeks due to concerns about the COVID-19 variant that first emerged there.