BC discovered another four cases of the Omicron COVID-19 variant over the weekend, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the province to five.
On Tuesday, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry gave the update during her COVID-19 news conference. She added that several more cases are suspected to be Omicron, and BC’s tally could increase in the coming days.
“That is not a surprise. Once we start to look for it, it’s likely we’re going to find it,” Henry said.
Three of the latest cases were in fully vaccinated individuals, Henry added. They had all been inoculated with different vaccine regimens.
- You might also like:
- Everything you need to know about the Omicron COVID-19 variant
- Air travellers landing in Canada will need to isolate due to Omicron worries
All five of BC’s Omicron cases are tied to international travel. The individuals had connections to people that visited Egypt, Nigeria, and other countries in South Africa.
The people who caught Omicron ranged in age from 18 to 60.
Henry said the province will continue to do full-genome sequencing on a certain number of COVID-19 samples and keep an eye on wastewater to keep track of how prevalent the variant is in the province.