Public Health Sudbury and Districts is warning a more transmissible strain of COVID-19 may have been detected in the region.
The health unit says laboratory testing by Public Health Ontario's revealed a possible case of a more highly transmissible strain - or a "variant of concern" - with further sequencing of the sample underway to confirm that finding and identify the variant - results are expected in the next few days.
This comes as the health unit's reporting twelve new cases in Greater Sudbury, bringing it to 464, including 77 "active".
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Penny Sutcliffe says the individual involved "is doing well and has a history of international travel which requires a fourteen-day quarantine period following return to Canada", giving time to identify the possible variant and ensure it doesn't spread, further emphasizing "quarantine and isolation practices are working".
Sutcliffe does - however - call it "alarming" to see the rate at which these new variants spread, urging everyone to do "everything in our power to slow the spread for as long as we can".
The news came shortly after Public Health Sudbury and Districts announced it's set to receive enough of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine over the next two weeks to immunize all residents of long-term care and high-risk retirement homes by February 5th, assuring the - while it's offered on a voluntary basis - the vaccine is a "safe and effective tool in stopping the spread of COVID-19 and protecting health of everyone, including our most vulnerable".
The health unit plans to work with "community partners" to complete the vaccinations on time.