COVID-19 'delta variant' found in B.C. care home outbreak, Henry says
One of the three COVID-19 outbreaks underway at care homes in British Columbia involves the concerning delta variant health officials around the world are closely watching.
The province’s top doctor made the revelation at a news conference on Thursday when asked about the delta variant first identified in India and responsible for a growth in cases in the United Kingdom, which began its vaccination campaign well before Canada.
“It has been transmitted in a number of clusters and one outbreak in a care home that we’re watching very carefully,” said provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, though she didn’t offer specifics.
There are only three care home outbreaks underway in the province. Interior Health says the delta variant is not involved with the ongoing outbreak at the Spring Valley Care Centre, which was declared on April 26 and has seen 10 of the 36 residents who got COVID-19 die. A total of 12 staff members at the facility have also been infected.
The other two active care home outbreaks are in Fraser Health, but when CTV News asked whether the Chartwell Carlton Care Residence or the Cherington Place long-term care centre were involved, a spokesperson referred the question to the Ministry of Health, which has not yet responded.
Henry’s comments come as some of the province’s leading infectious disease modellers and data scientists warn that the delta variant is a “wild card” and was the only strain of the coronavirus to keep rising as other cases dropped during the circuit breaker restrictions.
There are three sub-types of the B.1.617 variant, with the .2 strain titled “delta” being the most dangerous, estimated to be twice as contagious as the B.1.1.7 (UK) and P.1 (Brazilian) variants. As of May 15, the BCCDC reported 541 cases of the Indian variant, but didn’t break down how many are the delta variety; here were 8,015 UK variant samples and 5,761 Brazilian samples.
On Thursday, Henry told reporters there are about 300 confirmed cases of the delta variant in the province or "perhaps a little bit more" than that.
“The main circulating variants are B.1.1.7 and P.1, respectively accounting for ~ 56 % and ~ 40% of positive specimens screened or sequenced,” reads the BCCDC’s report for the period of May 9 to 15.
"We're not seeing (the delta variant) replace the more common ones that we are seeing, which are alpha - the B1.1.7 - and the P.1," Henry said Thursday. "Those are still the more common that we are seeing."
She said the number of cases of each of the three variants is decreasing as B.C.'s overall caseload drops, but added the province is monitoring the situation closely.
“We’ve also learned that no matter what strain of the virus we’re seeing, the measures we take to reduce transmission are the same and they work,” she said.
Transmissibility of the virus is one of the major factors that affects the concept of herd immunity and the proportion of vaccinated individuals necessary to achieve it, Henry said. Another major factor is the possibility that new strains of the virus will develop that are less affected by the antibodies present in vaccinated individuals, she said.
She encouraged everyone to get vaccinated as soon as possible.
“Having two doses of the vaccine continues to be very effective against all of the strains we’re seeing in the province,” Henry said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Bob Cole, veteran CBC broadcaster and former voice of 'Hockey Night in Canada,' dead at 90
Bob Cole, legendary CBC broadcaster and former voice of Hockey Night in Canada, has died. He was 90.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.