Three more people in the area have tested positive for a COVID-19 variant, according to Waterloo Region’s top doctor.
Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, the region’s medical officer of health says she is not surprised by the news as the province has increased testing for COVID-19 variants.
“They have been screened as having a variant and therefore, when it’s been determined what variant they have and that they have a variant of concern, then it will be publicly reported,” she explained Friday morning.
There are three variants of concern the province is keeping an eye on including ones stemming from the U.K., South Africa and Brazil.
“Early evidence suggests that variants of concern may spread more easily than previous variants of COVID-19 and that there may be the potential for more severe illness,” Wang said.
A week ago, the region announced the first recorded case of the U.K. variant in Waterloo Region.
A woman in her 30s, who had close contact with an individual who travelled internationally, had tested positive for the variant.
The region connected the case to an outbreak at Columbia Forest Long Term Care Home in Waterloo although they did not say whether any of the other cases at the home were connected to the virus.
On Friday, Wang said one of the three new positive tests was connected to that case.
“All three have a connection to international travel,” she explained. “None of the three cases, these additional three cases, are associated with an outbreak.”
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