CORNWALL – The region’s top doctor says there are “two possible” cases of a COVID-19 variant in the region.
Dr. Paul Roumeliotis told reporters Thursday afternoon that more information on the cases will be released Friday “once we get more information on that.”
“Again, I’m not surprised,” Roumeliotis says. He has previously stated that it wasn’t a question of if but when Cornwall, SD&G, Prescott-Russell and Akwesasne would see a highly-contagious strain of the virus.
“This is another reason for us to be extra cautious moving forward in that regard,” he said.
Roumeliotis says the provincial average of tests coming back as variants of concern (VOCs) is 16-17 per cent.
As of Thursday morning, Ontario reported 462 confirmed variant of concern cases: 449 of the B.1.1.7 (U.K. variant), 11 of the B.1.351 (South African variant) and two of the P.1 (Brazilian variant).
Asked by the Morrisburg Leader, Roumeliotis indicated that the specific variant cases will be separated in their daily statistical reporting.