Delta COVID-19 variant infections stable as B.C. cases continue to decrease overall
The latest information from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control paints a troubling picture of the variant of concern that’s arguably causing the most concern in the world right now.
While overall infections continue to go down overall in the province, the Delta variant, first discovered in India and known clinically as B.1.617.2, is holding steady and representing a larger share of positive cases.
At the height of the third wave, when resources were strained by cases north of a thousand per day, B.C. public health officials had moved to a surveillance model where they were essentially spot-checking random samples to determine which variants of concern were circulating. But given the rise of the Delta variant, which is ravaging India and threatening the United Kingdom’s reopening, they recently announced the BC CDC would go back to whole genome sequencing of all positive samples.
B.C. has transitioned to whole genome sequencing on all positive samples to provide gold standard analysis to detect variants of concern and “fingerprint details to support outbreak responses,” reads the latest VOC report published Thursday afternoon.
“The main circulating variants are B.1.1.7 and P.1, respectively accounting for ~45 % and ~46% of positive specimens screened or sequenced,” it goes on to say, showing the remaining nine per cent of variant samples are the Delta lineage.
While the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7, first identified in the U.K.) and Gamma variant (P.1, first identified in Brazil) were initially feared as being more contagious and resistant to vaccines than the original virus, the Delta variant is believed to be even worse. There is growing evidence to support those concerns.
One of the few care home outbreaks declared in B.C. in recent weeks was at Surrey’s Cherington Place long-term care centre, where seven staff and 21 residents have been infected so far. Four residents have died. The most recent publicly available data outlining immunization rates for care homes, admittedly stale and dated Feb. 15, posted a vaccination rate of 97 per cent for first doses.
CTV News has tried on several occasions to determine staff vaccination rates in each care home, but the Ministry of Health has refused to provide those statistics.
On Thursday, Alberta’s top doctor revealed that of 22 people diagnosed with the Delta variant after a hospital outbreak in Calgary, 10 had been fully immunized with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. They are believed to have mild forms of the illness.
Dr. Deena Hinshaw did not specify which types of vaccines they had taken, nor the interval between doses or how long it has been since their second dose, but epidemiologists tell CTV News that those details in connection with delta variant outbreaks will be scrutinized to determine how effective vaccines are against the mutation, and whether they mitigated the severity of the illnesses.
Earlier this month, a group of independent B.C. scientists and data researchers warned policymakers to consider the Delta variant a “wild card” that could challenge the province’s reopening plans, particularly if vaccine uptake isn’t robust for first and second doses.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
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.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
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.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.