Sask. officials 'keeping a close eye' on Omicron variant: health minister
Saskatchewan’s health minister said officials in the province are keeping a close watch on developments around the new Omicron variant.
“I met with Dr. Shahab specifically on this this morning to get his point of view,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said. “He’s keeping a very close eye to make sure, when we do get some information we’ll be able to get that out to the general public.”
Merriman said the best defense against COVID-19, and its variants, is to get fully vaccinated.
So far, the Omicron variant has not been detected in Saskatchewan. However, officials have confirmed cases in both Ontario and Quebec.
According to Merriman, Saskatchewan labs are equipped to test for the variant
“If they do get a positive test, then it goes to the next level of testing to make sure that it’s identified as that specific variant,” Merriman said.
Dr. Alexander Wong, an infectious diseases specialist, says the variant has likely been circulating for weeks, but it is too early to tell how it will impact Saskatchewan.
“I don’t necessarily think this is a reason for panic at this point,” Wong said.
“It was inevitable that we were going to see new variants.”
The World Health Organization declared Omicron a variant of concern last week. Now, Wong says the biggest question is how the new variant will compare to the Delta variant. According to Wong, it could take two to four weeks to better understand Omicron.
“The main thing that makes it unique and a bit worrisome is the fact that it has a lot of different mutations,” said Wong, adding health experts are working to understand the transmissibility and severity of the variant.
Wong says officials will also be monitoring how well vaccines work against the new variant. According to Wong, there may be “decreased effectiveness.” However, he says vaccines will maintain “some degree of protection.”
While we likely cannot stop the spread of the Omicron variant, Wong says we can slow it down through travel restrictions, quarantining and PCR testing, as well as everyday measures like masking and social distancing.
“All of these are critical in managing any variant,” he said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.