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quebec confirms first case of b.1.617 variant

the covid-19 variant was first sequenced in india and is believed to be fueling the pandemic there.

by: rené bruemmer

quebec has identified its first case of the b.1.617 variant of covid-19 , which originated in india and is believed to be fuelling the pandemic surge in that country.

the case was identified in a patient in the haute-mauricie region of quebec, north of trois-rivières, officials with quebec’s public health laboratory confirmed wednesday. it is believed to be the first case of this variant identified in canada.
the patient tested positive for covid-19 roughly two weeks ago. the sample was sent to the provincial laboratory for genetic sequencing to determine whether it was among the variants of concern. the patient was vaccinated two months ago. under quebec protocol, the results for any patient who has been vaccinated and later tests positive for covid-19 are sent to provincial laboratories to undergo genetic sequencing tests to identify possible variants. those tests take one to three weeks to carry out.
“we have a confirmed case of b.1.617 in haute-mauricie,” said michel roger, head of the quebec’s public health laboratory.
further information on the patient, including their condition, was not available. officials said they are not certain how the variant was introduced into quebec.

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the health department for the region, the ciusss de la mauricie-et-du-centre-du-québec, was advised of the positive case on tuesday, officials with quebec’s public health laboratory said.
spokespersons for the regional health department referred questions to the institut national de la santé du québec (inspq), the public health institute responsible for testing. the inspq confirmed the case wednesday.
variants of covid-19 have been quickly gaining the upper hand over the original strain of the disease in quebec, accounting for close to 100 per cent of transmitted versions in some regions.
in montreal, variants account for roughly 75 per cent of cases. to date, the variant b.1.1.7, which originated in the u.k., is by far the most prevalent, but the b.1.351 variant from south africa has dominated in the abitibi region. other variants identified in small numbers in the province are the p.1 and the b.1.525.
according to bloomberg, the record-breaking number of cases in india is thought to be fuelled by the new variant called b.1.617. canadian officials, including prime minister justin trudeau and quebec public health director horacio arruda,

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, as jurisdictions including the u.k and hong kong are doing.
the country’s health and welfare ministry acknowledged the presence of the so-called “double mutant” at the end of march, but has yet to confirm whether it’s responsible for rising infections. “higher transmissibility of this variant is not established as yet,” it said.
on friday, aparna mukherjee, a scientist at the indian council of medical research — which works under india’s health ministry — told bloomberg that b.1.617 is a variant of interest, but it “has not been stamped as a ‘variant of concern,’ so as to say that it is more lethal or more infectious.”
researchers are trying to determine whether b.1.617 is more deadly than other concerning variants. evidence suggests that variants originating in brazil and south africa are more transmissible — spreading easily and quickly.
this story will be updated.
the  national post contributed to this report.
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