The Northwestern Health Unit says it’s not known where or how the most recent UK variant of COVID-19 in the Dryden area was contracted.
The health unit and Keewatin Patricia District School Board confirmed a Dryden High School student tested positive for the variant earlier this week.
Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kit Young Hoon says they continue to investigate.
“This is something we generally look for (where and how the virus was contracted) and so through the investigation of this particular case, we have not been able to identify out of region travel which is concerning and suggests they may have acquired this variant in the community.”
Young Hoon adds variants of concern have been demonstrated to spread quickly, spread more easily and increase the likelihood of death.
“If that does happen and there is significant spread, particularly of the variants then that could lead us moving into a higher restrictive public health measures, such as the Grey-Lockdown zone,” stressed Dr. Young Hoon.
The health unit says they are waiting on more test results to come in and expect additional variant cases to be confirmed in the coming days.
Based on the health unit’s current findings, officials say at this time the COVID-19 outbreak at Walmart in Dryden is not connected to the variant case at DHS.
