COVID-19: Ottawa Public Health Confirms Omicron Community Spread, Waterloo Probes Outbreak

Ottawa confirmed community spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant on Saturday as another public health unit investigated probable outbreaks of the strain and the province reported more than 1,600 new viral infections.

The health unit covering Canada’s capital announced the news in a Twitter post while reminding people to follow public health measures like wearing masks, limiting close social contact and staying home in case disease.

“We can confirm evidence of community transmission of Omicron in Ottawa,” the post said. “While this news is concerning, we know that the same measures we have practiced throughout the pandemic will help reduce transmission. “

News of the community spread came nearly two weeks after the city announced it had detected the first known cases in Canada of the new variant in two people who had traveled outside the country.

Since then, Omicron also accounts for about 10% of the province’s daily new cases, the province’s top doctor said on Friday, and has been linked to several large outbreaks within provincial borders.

The public health unit covering the Waterloo region said on Saturday it was “very likely” that 31 cases of COVID-19 associated with two hockey tournaments held elsewhere in the province were the result of the Omicron variant.

Hockey players and their contacts have been urged to self-isolate and get tested, as the area’s top doctor has warned all residents should reduce their social contacts in light of the ‘increased risk’ resulting from the discovery. .

“It is highly likely that the new Omicron variant is already present in the Waterloo region, and we expect it to spread quickly,” Dr Hsiu-Li Wang said in a written statement.

Public health in the region said 11 cases of COVID-19 were linked to a hockey tournament held in London, Ont., And another 20 cases were linked to a separate tournament in Markham, Ont.

Teams from the Waterloo region attended both tournaments, but the health unit did not say when the events took place.

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Full genomic sequencing results were still pending, but the health unit said the likelihood that the two clusters were linked to Omicron is “very high.” That’s because cases in both groups tested positive for a marker linked to the variant, the health unit said, also citing the high number of cases already associated with outbreaks.

Scientists are still studying Omicron’s unique characteristics, but it is believed to be highly transmissible. The World Health Organization has called it a worrying variant.

Ontario’s top doctor, Dr. Kieran Moore, said on Friday that Omicron is expected to become the dominant viral strain within weeks.

London, Ont. Health officials said this week that a case in a large cluster of 40 infections has been confirmed as an Omicron case, noting that the cluster has affected schools, daycares and a church. The region then recommended that people limit social gatherings to 10 vaccinated people indoors.

The COVID-19 infection curve continued to climb steadily in Ontario on Saturday as 1,607 new cases were reported, along with five other deaths linked to the virus.

In response to the increase in cases and the Omicron threat, the province announced this week that it will suspend plans to further relax public health rules in January and begin offering booster doses to all adults. at the start of the new year.

Moore advised people to limit social gatherings during the holidays and work from home if possible. But the province has failed to put in place major new public health measures to curb the spread of the disease.