Canada: largest outbreak of P.1 coronavirus variant outside of Brazil discovered in British Columbia

America, British Columbia, Canada, Coronavirus, Health, Infection, Lockdown, P.1, Science, Testing, Transmission

The coronavirus variant that forced the Whistler Blackcomb ski resort to close is spreading rapidly in B.C. and sending more young people to hospital, raising concern about health officials’ ability to control the outbreak that is the largest known spread outside Brazil.

A laboratory at St. Paul’s Hospital that screens positive samples from most of the Vancouver Coastal region – which includes Whistler – for variants using a new rapid-testing technology, had confirmed 480 cases of the P.1 variant by Wednesday night (31st March 2021)  – already more than what has been reported by any other country except for Brazil.

TheGlobeandMail.com report

 

Image by alan Wang from Pixabay

** This post was originally published on April 3, 2021 **