More than 100 cases of Omicron BA.2 sub-variant identified in Canada

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Canada has identified more than 100 BA.2 lineage COVID-19 cases since November 2021, the chief public health officer of Canada.

At a press conference on Friday, Dr. Theresa Tam told reporters that Canada was one of the first countries to identify the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron.

“We’ve detected that since November of last year. We’re one of the first countries to actually pick up on this variant as well,” she said.

Today’s #COVID19 #Epidemiology in Canada Daily Update: https://t.co/2586g1O35R pic.twitter.com/bh5oQkTZtl

— Dr. Theresa Tam (@CPHO_Canada) January 28, 2022

Of the cases identified, 77 have come from the national microbiology lab, while the rest have been identified at the provincial or territorial level. Dr. Tam did not provide a breakdown of exactly where the cases have been identified; however, BC officials announced that the variant had been identified in the province earlier this week.

BA.2 has not been identified as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization. According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, it does have some differences from the Omicron variant.

Today’s #COVID19 in Canada info and updates: → #GOC website on #coronavirus disease: https://t.co/8kWHvr0h7S pic.twitter.com/QhOoYr3592

— Dr. Theresa Tam (@CPHO_Canada) January 28, 2022

“BA.2 does exhibit some differences from BA.1, including some mutations that may affect transmissibility, detection and possibly immune escape,” PHAC said in a statement to Daily Hive.

Dr. Tam echoed this statement and added that it doesn’t appear to have any increase in hospitalizations or deaths associated with it, based on international data.

“We’re still learning, of course, about this sub variant, but at the moment, the international data suggests that it could potentially have an increased advantage on spread,” she said. “But there doesn’t seem to be any specific increase in hospitalizations or severe outcomes compared to BA.1 but we’ll be tracking that very closely.”

She added that the vast majority of cases in Canada continue to be the Omicron variant, and that they are monitoring BA.2 closely.