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Toronto Public Health has confirmed the first cases of the Brazilian and South African variant of the COVID-19 virus in the city.
Officials said on Sunday that a patient who had recently travelled from Brazil has tested positive for the P.1 COVID-19 mutation. They are currently hospitalized.
This also marks the first confirmed case of the Brazilian variant in the province of Ontario.
Health officials also reported the first confirmed case of the B.1.351 mutation, known as the South African variant of the virus. This person has no recent travel history and has had no known contact with anyone who has recently traveled.
Toronto Public Health says there are currently 27 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 variant in the city.
As of Sunday, there are 175 known cases of the COVID-19 variant in the province – 174 of the UK variant and up until today, one of the South African variant.
Public health officials around the world have raised concerns about new virus variants that are more contagious or resistant to existing vaccines. While viruses mutate constantly, most of the changes cause little concern. But scientists are closely tracking these mutations to make sure they quickly identify variants of concern.
Public health officials are also concerned because the variant first discovered in South Africa contains a mutation of the virus’ characteristic spike protein targeted by existing vaccines. The mutation may mean the vaccines offer less protection against the variant.
The developers of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine say the shot appears to work against the variant detected in Britain late last year which is similar to previously reported results by other vaccine manufacturers, including Pfizer and Moderna. Researchers are studying the potential effectiveness of the vaccine against the South Africa variant.
Files from The Associated Press were used in this report
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