South African COVID-19 variant identified in North Bay, Ont., outbreak

Authorities in northern Ontario say they’ve confirmed that a COVID-19 variant originally discovered in South Africa has surfaced in North Bay, Ont.

The North Bay Perry Sound District Health Unit, which is contending with a local outbreak, says it’s identified one case of the South Africa-based variant so far, adding the patient is a close contact of an international traveller.

An outbreak at an apartment building in North Bay has seen at least 18 confirmed novel coronavirus variant cases.

2:38 COVID-19 outbreak in North Bay, Ontario linked to new variant

North Bay is currently one of four regions that will remain under a provincial stay-at-home order for the coming week in a bid to lower local COVID-19 case counts. It joins other long-standing hot spots of Toronto, Peel Region and York Region.

The province announced on Friday that stay-at-home measures would lift for 27 other health units on Tuesday, allowing them to move back to Ontario’s colour-coded pandemic response framework.

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The tiered system sets limits on gathering sizes and regulations governing local businesses based on regional case counts and health system capacity.

— With files from Bryan Mullan and Ryan Rocca

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