Just over three weeks after the first case of an Indian variant was detected in the province, the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ) Friday reported a total of 11 cases of this variant in Quebec.
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The Indian variant, also called B.1.617, has caused massive damage in Asia, and especially in India, and is now under close monitoring in the province, as he explained in an interview with LCN Dr. .
“The development that this species could take in Quebec is being closely watched. Dr. De Ceres emphasized that it is a virus that is being closely monitored.”
The region or regions in which these cases were discovered have not been disclosed, but the travelers’ cases are part of the lottery.
Information about the Indian variant has not been updated on the INSPQ website, with only the British, South African, Brazilian and Nigerian variants listed on Friday.
The Indian variant, also known as double mutation, is worried because it might evade immunity to the vaccine. Dr. de Ceres argued that without making the vaccine completely ineffective, it could reduce its effectiveness.
However, the 36 miners from Baffin Island, who were promptly brought back on Thursday to St. Hubert Airport, are not among the 11 cases that have been announced.
If 11 cases of the Indian type are confirmed in Quebec, Dr de Ceres cautions that these are only confirmed cases, and that this alternative may be more present than we think.
The variant from the United Kingdom remains the most common with 5,237 confirmed cases, and is present in all regions of Quebec, except for Abitibi-Témiscamingue, according to INSPQ.
