‘We’re going to have to be on our guard’: 10 of Ontario’s 34 confirmed COVID-19 variant cases are from Toronto
Posted January 25, 2021 12:46 pm.
Last Updated January 25, 2021 5:33 pm.
Toronto Public Health (TPH) is asking all of its facilities to reinforce infection prevention and control measures as the City deals with the COVID-19 variant that originated in the United Kingdom.
On Monday, TPH confirmed with 680 NEWS that of the province’s 34 positive cases of the UK variant, 10 of them are from Toronto.
“The fact is, infection prevention and control is truly everyone’s job’s now,” Toronto’s top doctor, Eileen de Villa, said on Monday.
“There is still a lot of work to do to conclusively understand the extent to which the known variants are more transmissible, or if they cause more serious disease. We know the ‘U.K. B.1.1.7‘ variant is in Ontario. We must assume it will spread.”
The measures include:
- Passive and active screening for visitors and staff
- Universal masking
- Personal protective equipment
- Proper hand hygiene
- Physical distancing
- Environmental cleaning.
In a release issued on Monday, TPH says “cases of the ‘U.K. B.1.1.7‘ variant of COVID-19 that originated in the United Kingdom has been confirmed in Toronto and other parts of the province.”
The UK variant of COVID-19 in Ontario: how many cases, and how dangerous? Dr. Vanessa Allen, Chief of Microbiology and Laboratory Science, with Public Health Ontario, has those answers. @680NEWS pic.twitter.com/gs9zOHW8Vo
— Mark Douglas (@DouglasCityNews) January 25, 2021
The most important thing to do is to act in ways to protect yourself and everyone around you. COVID-19 is a dangerous virus in any form. We never know if infection will lead to mild illness or to worse,” de Villa added.
Ontario’s top doctor, Dr. David Williams, supports that advice.
“We’re going to have to be on our guard but the same measures that protect you from the other strain of COVID-19, will protect you from this one,” Williams said Monday.
As of data compiled from Jan. 23, TPH says 56.4 percent of confirmed infections in Toronto are through close contact, with 28.5 percent resulting from community spread.
Scientists say the variant is more transmissible than others, and there is evidence it is more deadly as well.
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Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s technical lead on COVID-19, said studies were underway to look at the transmission and severity of new virus variants.
Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox, and Addington Health has found a case of the variant and is advising anyone who has travelled or had visitors from outside the region to consider getting an asymptomatic test for COVID-19.
The Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit has confirmed the U.K. variant of COVID-19 is present in a Barrie long-term care home that has experienced one of the worst outbreaks of COVID-19 in the province.
The public health unit is extending the isolation period of all confirmed or probable cases of COVID-19 to 14 days, expanding the criteria for people considered “close contacts” of an infected person.
As of Saturday, a total of 127 residents of the site, as well as 84 staff, have tested positive. Six residents and one staff member were in hospital.
With files from The Canadian Press
