The BC Centre for Disease Control has detected Canada's first known case of a new COVID-19 variant that has swiftly circled the globe and is being monitored by the World Health Organization.
The centre said the BA. 2.86 variant of the Omicron strain was identified in a person from the Fraser Health region who hadn't recently been outside the province.
Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Minister of Health Adrian Dix said in a joint statement that there doesn't seem to be increased severity with the strain and the infected individual is not in hospital.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has said the new strain may be more capable of infecting people who have previously had COVID-19 or have received COVID-19 vaccines, compared to previous strains.
The World Health Organization has said it's monitoring the variant due to its large number of mutations.
It was first detected in Denmark on July 24, and has since turned up in Israel, South Africa, Britain and the U.S.
What do we know so far about the BA.2.86 #COVID19 variant under monitoring? Dr @mvankerkhove explains. pic.twitter.com/PWZd4l29rA
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) August 29, 2023
Henry and Dix said it wasn't unexpected for the strain to show up in B.C. and Canada, and the risk to people in B.C. "has not changed."
"COVID-19 continues to spread globally, and the virus continues to adapt," they said.
"Reducing transmission and having high levels of protection through vaccination continue to be our best defence against all variants of COVID-19."
They said people should "stay home when sick, wear masks when appropriate, follow respiratory etiquette, wash hands frequently and, most importantly, stay up to date on your vaccinations."
The statement said the detection of the variant reflected ongoing data monitoring and surveillance in B.C., including testing of people with COVID-19 symptoms and "innovative new wastewater surveillance."
"The latest wastewater surveillance with whole genome sequencing shows no other detections of this strain of the virus so far," it said.
The XBB 1.5 strain was still the most common subvariant reported in B.C., the statement said.
