Canadian Ontario officials said on Saturday they had detected two confirmed cases of the new coronavirus strain, which first appeared in the UK.
According Reuters, the authorities identified the new variant in a southern Ontario couple with no known history of high risk travel, exposure or contact.
The report comes as the province institutes a new blockade, with 4,301 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the past two days and more than 2,000 infections per day for 12 consecutive days.
“This further reinforces the need for Ontarians to stay at home as long as possible and continue to follow all public health advice, including stopping measures across the province starting today,” said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, director associate physician from Ontario, in a statement on Saturday, Reuters report.
While experts are still investigating the origins and transmission of the new strain, scientists believe the variant is about 40 to 70 percent more transmissible than the original.
AN study released this week in the Center for Mathematical Modeling of Infectious Diseases at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine estimates the rate at 56% more contagious.
Canada last week extended the ban on passenger flights from the UK to January 6 and expanded South Africa’s screening and monitoring measures due to the increase in the new strain.
It is not clear whether the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech and approved by Canada and other countries earlier this month is effective in preventing this variant.
Modern said in a statement on Wednesday that his vaccine will likely be able to protect people from the new strain, adding that he plans to run tests to confirm the vaccine’s effectiveness.
Canada on Wednesday authorized use of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine wide use, paving the way for the distribution of the second vaccine across the country.
The vaccine is indicated for use in people aged 18 or over. Moderna is conducting additional studies in children from 12 years of age, so that the guidelines can be revised in the future.
As of Saturday, Canada had almost 541,000 cases of COVID-19, with more than 14,700 deaths due to the virus, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Several other countries, including Australia, Italy and the Netherlands have also reported cases of the new infectious strain.