The medical officer of health for the Kingston region says a new coronavirus variant has been identified in the area.
Dr. Kieran Moore is asking anyone who has travelled or who has received visitors from outside the region to get tested immediately, whether they are symptomatic or not.
Moore said the region has received its first lab confirmed B.1.1.7 case, a new, more easily transmissible variant of the virus that was first found in the United Kingdom.
“We know that one in five individuals with COVID-19 don’t have symptoms but carry and transmit COVID-19,” Dr. Moore said.
“With this new variant detected in our area, it is crucial that we alter our COVID-19 control strategies and recommend asymptomatic testing to those who have travelled or had visitors from outside our region to detect positive COVID-19 cases early and to isolate these cases to prevent rapid spread of the virus and outbreaks in our community.”
The health unit is also recommending stricter measures to limit the spread of the virus, including an isolation period extended to 14 days, which was previously 10 days, and a lower threshold for considering contacts as high-risk.
Additionally, out of an abundance of caution KFL&A Public Health is recommending a more proactive approach to comprehensive and timely case and contact management to limit the spread of this variant with the following public health measures:
Currently, the region has 18 active cases of COVID-19.
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