Canada is seeing an increase in several rapidly spreading variants of COVID-19 that have been fueling new outbreaks in the United States and Europe, Canada’s top doctors said on Friday.
Strains BA.4 and BA.5 of the virus, which are subvariants of Omicron, have been detected in Canada since May, and the subvariant BA.2.12 has been growing in the country since March.
On Friday, Canada’s director of public health, Dr. Theresa Tam, noted the increase in the number of such cases in the country and said that these sub-variants “have shown a growth advantage and an additional immune leak” on Omicron and other strains of the virus.
“COVID-19 has shown us over the last few years that there may be more surprises ahead,” Tam said during the briefing.
“The virus is still circulating in Canada and internationally, and factors such as viral progression and decreased immunity are expected to affect COVID-19 activity in the future.”
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The BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are estimated to account for about 8.3% and 13.3% of coronavirus variants in the United States as of June 11, the Centers for Coronavirus reported. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this week. .
The two rapidly spreading underlines were added to the World Health Organization’s watch list in March and have also been identified as variants of concern in Europe.
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The European Union’s disease prevention agency said on Monday that the new subvariants are spreading faster than other variants, which could lead to more hospitalizations and deaths as they become dominant on the continent.
Portugal is also experiencing an increase in new COVID-19 infections, the vast majority of which have been caused by variant BA.5. And both the BA.4 and BA.5 strains drove South Africa’s fifth wave of COVID last month.
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According to the latest Canadian data published online, the percentage of COVID-19 cases of variants identified as BA.4 and BA.5 increased to 7.6% on May 22, compared to 2.1% of cases. during the week of May 15th. .
BA.2.12.1, which has also been found to be highly transmissible and, like the other two subvariants, may elude previous immunity, accounted for 27.8 per cent of COVID-19 variants in Canada on 22 May.
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However, overall in Canada, the number of COVID-19 cases has been declining, making health officials feel “prudently optimistic” during the summer months, Tam said Friday.
Indicators of daily case counts, laboratory tests and wastewater signals are stabilizing nationally and most areas of the country continue to experience declining COVID-19 activity.
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“With the first day of summer just a few days away, the constant improvements in epidemiological indicators are positive news and welcome, and I have supported the relaxation and continued pause of measures,” Tam said.
But parts of the country, including parts of Atlantic Canada and Saskatchewan, have seen some early warnings of increased COVID-19 activity in recent weeks, he added.
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That’s why federal health officials are closely monitoring emerging variants in Canada and the rise in cases in the U.S. and Europe.
This is also why they do not rule out the possibility of a possible increase in COVID-19 cases in this country during the summer.
“What you’ve seen in the United States and in Europe, for example, and in Portugal, there may be a resurgence here in Canada in the coming weeks,” Deputy Health Director Dr. Howard Njoo said in French on Friday. during the briefing.
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He stressed the importance of keeping up with COVID-19 vaccines, although these new strains have shown the ability to evade immunity. Even if vaccines do not prevent infection, they have been shown to reduce the incidence of serious illness, hospitalization or virus death, Njoo said.
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“So it’s always important to keep up with your promoters, especially if there’s a resurgence of case types this summer.”
– with Reuters files
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