B.C. now has 5 cases of COVID Omicron variant in both vaccinated and unvaccinated

B.C. health officials said Tuesday there are now five cases of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in the province.

Dr. Bonnie Henry said at a media briefing that, after the first initial Omicron case last week, four additional cases of the variant were discovered over the weekend.

They have been mild and no one is in the hospital with this variant, Henry confirmed.

She said there are also a number of other cases “suspect and pending,” and likely to be this new variant.

Henry said this is not a surprise, as they know the virus travels, and travels quickly in people.

Of the five confirmed cases, three people were fully vaccinated with three different vaccination combinations, Henry added. The other two were unvaccinated people.

The cases range in age from 18 to 60 and are all associated with international travel from Nigeria, Egypt, a few countries in southern Africa and Iran, Henry added.

“This is our latest variant of concern,” she said, knowing this can create anxiety and uncertainty in many people.

“We have been through this before, we have seen our worst-case scenario and we know what to do to prevent it,” Henry said.

On Monday, the province recorded another 946 new cases of COVID-19 over the previous three days.

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From Friday to Saturday, there were 351 new cases. From Saturday to Sunday there were 311 new cases and from Sunday to Monday there were 284 new cases.

In addition, 11 new deaths have been reported for an overall total of 2,362.

The number of active cases of the virus in the province is now 2,876.

Of the active cases, 241 individuals are currently in hospital and 89 are in intensive care.