REGINA — Saskatchewan health officials have confirmed that the first cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 have likely been found in the province.
Premier Scott Moe said during a morning radio appearance on Dec. 8 that the province will likely be reporting cases of the Omicron variant, confirmed almost an hour later by a statement from the Ministry of Health.
Four cases have been positively identified as a variant of concern by testing, said the ministry’s statement.
These cases are linked to a single household, with a recent travel history to one of the countries identified by Canadian officials to be on a restriction list due to the presence of the Omicron strain.
The individuals and their close contacts have already been contacted, said the ministry, and are currently isolating while further whole genome testing is in progress to determine if the cases are the B.1.1.529 variant, known as Omicron.
The ministry also said that the risk of transmission in relation to these cases is currently considered low.
The Omicron variant has also been found in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario. Canada has placed federal travel restrictions on 10 countries due to concerns about the variant.
Saskatchewan chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said last week that approximately 40 individuals were isolating while undergoing testing after returning from overseas travel involving regions reporting cases of Omicron.
An additional 100 people were added to this list early this week, said Shahab during a provincial COVID-19 operations update on Tuesday, and approximately one-third of the group had been screened via testing at that date.
Shahab also said during Tuesday's update that no cases identified as an Omicron strain had yet been identified in Saskatchewan, indicating these case results are very new.
"We are confident that we will be able to detect Omicron either due to travel or due to transmission," said Shahab, at that time.
While evidence is not yet conclusive, data from preliminary lab studies released from Pfizer showed that three doses of the Pfizer BioNTech mRNA vaccine neutralizes the Omicron variant.
Individuals in the study with three doses of vaccine responded to the Omicron variant on the same level as individuals with two doses respond to a less virile strain of COVID-19, said the data.
Participants with a two-dose regime also showed some protection against the variant, but those with a booster dose mounted the most effective immune response.
Saskatchewan public health expanded the provincial booster dose program on Tuesday to include residents aged 50 and older, but Shahab did not comment on whether the decision was influenced by the looming possibility of Omicron transmission at the time.
SASKTODAY has reached out to the Ministry of Health for more details.
- with files from Stefan Labbé, Glacier Media
