Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Earlier this week Kingston Frontenac Lennox and Addington Public Health reported its first lab confirmed case of a new strain of COVID-19, known as B.1.1.7.
As a result Dr. Kieran Moore, medical officer of health at KFLA Public Health, is advising anyone who has travelled outside of the region (i.e., beyond Hastings, Prince Edward, Leeds, Grenville, or Lanark counties), has had visitors from outside the region, or has moved to the region in the last 14 days to consider voluntary, asymptomatic testing for COVID-19.
B.1.1.7 is a new, more easily transmissible variant of COVID-19 that was first found in the United Kingdom.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Moore said the variant was detected in a KFLA resident who had travelled to the Simcoe Muskoka for work area several weeks ago. Originally thought to be positive with the regular COVID-19 virus, the individual’s sample was tested for the new variant when it was discovered the new variant had been detected in the region they had visited. Moore said confirmation of the new strain took several weeks and the individual had recovered from the virus by the time it was confirmed to be the new strain. Moore estimates the four other KFLA residents who had been in contact with the individual who also tested positive for COVID-19 very likely carried the new strain as well.
“There was subsequently some spread in our community but it was limited and controlled and we’re confident that that one case has no spread in the community,” said Moore. “We’re lucky that that individual didn’t work in a long-term care facility or a healthcare setting which is great because those things clearly are more vulnerable to spread. It’s our opinion now that this is under control but it was only because of an outbreak investigation elsewhere that this sample was actually tested for the variant.”
Moore says the B.1.1.7 strain spreads about 30 per cent faster than the current COVID-19 strain and can be more fatal.
“There are a whole series of mutations with this new strain, the B.1.1.7.,” said Moore. “It’s not just one; it’s a series of mutations that have allowed it to bind more rapidly and strongly to any part of our respiratory tract. So much more strongly than the previous dominant strain. It seems to have a mutation that lets it get into the cells more easily. So not only binding to the receptor but then getting into the cells and as a result it has a competitive advantage over the normal COVID-19 strain and would allow it to replicate more rapidly and potentially you’re shedding more virus as well so it can replicate more rapidly. It certainly used that competitive advantage in the United Kingdom where it’s becoming the more dominant strain. I don’t think we want that to happen here.”
Moore said by aggressive testing and public adherence to best health and safety practices, KFLA Public Health is hoping to limit any further spread in the community. He added KFLA’s asymptomatic testing strategy is among the first of its kind in the province.
As of Tuesday the KFLA region had 18 active cases, though none of them were suspected to be the new strain.