‘Double mutant’ variant from India confirmed in Quebec

Quebec has identified its first case of the B.1.617 variant of COVID-19 that originated in India and is believed to be fuelling the pandemic surge in that country.

The case was identified in a patient in the Mauricie region, north of TroisRivières, officials with the Institut national de la santé du Québec (INSPQ) confirmed Wednesday.

The patient, who had been vaccinated two months ago, tested positive for COVID19 roughly two weeks ago. The sample was sent to the provincial laboratory for genetic sequencing to determine whether it was among the variants of concern. Under Quebec protocol, the results for any patient who has been vaccinated and later tests positive for COVID-19 are sent to provincial laboratories to undergo genetic sequencing tests to identify possible variants. Those tests take one to three weeks to carry out.

“We have a confirmed case of B.1.617 in the Mauricie,” Michel Roger, head of Quebec’s public health laboratory, told Postmedia News.

Officials said they are not yet certain how the variant was introduced into Quebec. Later Wednesday, British Columbia reported 39 cases of the B.1.617 variant.

The health department for the region, the CIUSSS de la Mauricie-et-du-Centre-du-Québec, was advised of the positive case on Tuesday, Roger said.

The patient had already been in quarantine when tested because of a positive case in their home, said Julie Michaud, spokesperson for the regional health department. The department is now investigating to determine the origin of the variant. The patient has since recovered from their bout of COVID19. No further information on the patient is being released.

Variants of COVID-19 have been quickly gaining the upper hand over the original strain of the disease in Quebec, accounting for close to 100 per cent of transmitted versions in some regions.

In Montreal, variants account for roughly 70 per cent of cases. To date, the variant B.1.1.7, which originated in the U.K., is by far the most prevalent, but the B.1.351 variant from South Africa has dominated in the Abitibi region.