A new variant of COVID-19 has made its way into our health jurisdiction.
The Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit says it has been notified by Public Health Ontario that a person in our area has tested positive for a variant of concern.
It’s the first case involving a variant in the community.
Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Paula Stewart says the news reinforces how important it is to follow public health guidelines.
“It is important that we remember that we are all in this together. If our community is safe our schools will be safe. We must all continue to work together, stay vigilant, and follow the public health measures to keep COVID-19 from spreading in LGL,” she said.
Since February 3rd, the health unit says every new positive case has been screened for the variant strains.
Those that screen positive go on for further testing to confirm which mutation lineage has been found.
On Wednesday afternoon, the health unit tweeted that the case was based in East Lanark.
The Variant of Concern identified is in Lanark County but not related to the outbreaks in East Lanark. https://t.co/2brN8gEsNR
— LGL Health Unit (@LGLHealthUnit) March 3, 2021
While research suggests that variants are more transmissible and may have the potential for more severe illness, so far the evidence suggests that the Health Canada-approved vaccines are still effective against them.
All public health measures are key to preventing the spread of COVID-19 and variants:
- Stay home as much as possible and to limit close contact (no masks and closer than 2m) to your own household.
- Stay local and avoid travel outside the region.
- Wear a face covering: Minimum of 2 layers of material; 3 will provide further protection.
- Stay 2 metres apart from others, especially in large stores like grocery stores.
- Wash your hands Twenty seconds for regular hand hygiene or use hand sanitizer often.
- Cover your coughs and sneezes into a tissue or your arm
- Do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth
- Work from home, if possible
- Get tested if you have symptoms of COVID-19: See the list of symptoms on the assessment tool.