COVID-19 variants in our country so far. Community spread of new COVID-19 variants may be happening in Canada: Tam A highly contagious strain first detected in the U.K., South Africa or Brazil is suspected in a recent outbreak at a Barrie, Ont.
nursing home. Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer has said community spread may already be happening.But while Iceland, Australia and New Zealand test nearly all their COVID-positive cases for variants, Canada screens just five per cent.The executive director of the Canadian COVID-19 Genomics Network (CanCOGeN) knows that number seems low, but she points out Canada has a lot more cases than many countries.