Ontario health officials say they are concerned about the Delta variant which is now responsible for nearly half of new COVID-19 cases in the province.
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According to Public Health, these cases are mainly listed in the greater Toronto area.
This variant, first identified in India, is spreading rapidly, and Public Health Ontario expects it to become the dominant variant in the province.
Remember that the Delta variant is 60% more contagious than the original virus and carries twice the risk of hospitalization.
“This is a source of concern, not only because it is increasing in Ontario, but globally, we see that it is a variant that tends to want to take up all the space,” says Dre Cécile Tremblay from the Department of Microbiology, Infectiology and Immunology at the Center hospitalier universitaire de Montréal (CHUM).
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In the United Kingdom, the rise of the Delta variant has forced the government to postpone the easing of health measures for a month, as the number of infections soars in this country.
In Quebec, the border between Ontario and Quebec has just reopened; something to facilitate the spread of the Delta variant in the province, according to some. Montreal Public Health says it is on the lookout.
“We are certainly not immune, Quebec. We must keep certain measures in place, ”says the regional director of public health for the Montreal region, Dre Mylène Drouin.
Dre Cécile Tremblay insists that “all non-essential travel should be put on hold again”.
In Ottawa, Dr Howard Njoo, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Public Health Agency of Canada, recalled the importance of receiving two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Two doses protect up to 90% against the Delta variant, according to studies, compared to only 30% for just one,” he says.
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