Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said not much is known about the health impacts of the Omicron variant. (BC Government)

By Ian Holmes

Variant of concern

‘There’s a lot of uncertainty:’ officials weigh possible impact of Omicron variant

Dec 14, 2021 | 4:43 PM

NANAIMO — Vastly more COVID-19 cases are expected as health officials gauge various scenarios a new variant of the virus could bring.

A modelling presentation by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on Tuesday, Dec. 14 expanded on the apparent highly transmissible components of the Omicron variant.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty still about Omicron. There is consensus that it spreads faster than Delta, that it’s more infectious — but how much more is challenging to know.”

New modelling data demonstrated a worst/best case scenario of 2,000 new daily COVID cases by the end of the year to about 1,000 additional daily cases in mid January.

The province’s current seven-day average is 373 new daily COVID-19 cases.

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Concern about the new variant hit Vancouver Island with Omicron cases linked to the University of Victoria.

Dr. Henry said four confirmed Omicron cases are tied to 124 new cases reported Monday, Dec. 13 primarily involving off-campus social activities.

“It is important to know that we have transmission in the community now and that we are learning more and more from the global community of what that means for Omicron.”

The introduction of Omicron into Island Health coincides with more than 300 new COVID-19 cases reported over the weekend regionally and more than 760 active cases in the health authority.

Forty four cases of the variant had been recorded in the province as of Tuesday, with Dr. Henry stating the variant hasn’t resulted in any hospitalizations to date.

While Dr. Henry did not indicate any new health restrictions are anticipated at this time, she did recommend people not attend large indoor parties this holiday season, especially if the vaccination status of some guests isn’t known.

Dr. Henry said evidence from South Africa clearly suggests Omicron causes increased re-infection rates.

She emphasized the importance of eligible populations being vaccinated and getting your booster shot when it’s your turn.

“This is a time more than ever that we need to hold the line, we need to continue doing those things that we know work,” she said.

Dr. Henry said updates would be provided twice weekly on the status of the Omicron variant in B.C.

It’s believed the variant expanded to community spread on Dec. 9 following isolated cases linked to international travel.

The Health Ministry says 20 of those infected recently travelled to Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Germany, Portugal or the United States.

Island Health reported 91 new COVID cases on Tuesday, while 717 are considered active, which is a record high for the health authority.

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On Twitter: @reporterholmes