Sask. travellers returning from southern Africa in two weeks of isolation

REGINA -

Dozens of travellers are in isolation here in the province – after returning from southern Africa in the last two weeks.

Saskatchewan’s public health agency has flagged 40 people who are now quarantining and in the process of being tested.

The province’s chief medical health officer suspects most tests will come back negative.

“We are confident that we will be able to detect and contain any initial omicron variant detections but it’s a rapidly evolving situation and as you know many countries in Europe are detecting not just travel related cases but also early signs of community transmission,” Dr. Saqib Shahab said.

This follows the emergence of the Omicron variant – initially reported in South Africa.

If there is a positive case -- Dr. Shahab says provincial labs are prepared with genome sequencing to determine which variant it might be.

So far, Saskatchewan has not detected any positive cases of the Omicron variant.