New Omicron Variant Hits Canada Two Days After Discovery
By Ethan Tsai
Toronto — Nov. 30 — On November 28, the first cases of Omicron were reported in the Canadian province of Ontario, which shares a direct border with the state of Michigan. The couple who tested positive for the new variant had recently been in Nigeria, roughly 3,700 miles away from the original South African source of the Omicron variant. Although the variant has only had a short time to spread, it has already reached the North American continent, despite many countries placing travel restrictions and bans on travel from South Africa and its neighbors in order to prevent potential contamination. Israel, for example, has already established a travel ban on any tourism or travel to within its borders.
Omicron was named after the letter O in the Greek alphabet, skipping “Nu” to avoid confusion with the “Mu” variant and also skipping “Xi” to avoid designating a variant with a common Chinese surname. There have not been many recorded infections yet, especially outside the African continent, with a few cases in Australia, Europe, and Canada.
Especially concerning to scientists and the World Health Organization (WHO) is the number of mutations that the Omicron variant has rapidly developed. With nearly 50 significant mutations, 30 have been identified in the spike protein. Ten of these are located on a protein, the ACE2 receptor. The receptor’s role is to help infect humans, and the number of mutations could signify a more advanced virus, although this has not been confirmed. Meanwhile, Delta’s ACE2 receptor only had two mutations.
More mutations do not necessarily mean that the Omicron virus is more deadly or more contagious. However, this excessive mutation has the potential to cause significant and dangerous changes to the virus, which could result in significantly stronger variants. Brown University’s public health dean warned that “the more likely scenario is that Omicron does spread more easily than Delta.”
The items of interest in the Omicron variant include the severity of illness, contagiousness, and whether it can bypass the vaccine defenses. The number of mutations in the variant could lead to the vaccine having trouble identifying it as a COVID variant, resulting in massive outbreaks of the new variant in reopening public areas. In particular, the spike mutations are essential because the spike protein allows the virus to cause infection.
Canada has recently identified five new cases, resulting in a current total of nine recorded cases in the nation. Four of these cases have been confirmed to have arrived directly from Nigeria, adding to fears that the Omicron virus will continue to sweep over Africa. In response to the crisis, Canada has instituted travel bans restricting travel to and from ten countries and has begun to talk with Pfizer and Merck & Co to negotiate an agreement in order to buy additional antiviral drugs. Minister of Health Jean Duclos has stated that passengers on flights from America would not be required to be tested and that passengers from all countries will be tested and then quarantined until their results are analyzed.
At the time of writing, there have been no Omicron cases reported in the United States so far. However, with rising infection numbers worldwide and Omicron cases in Canada, this will likely be short-lived. [Update: Omicron cases have now been recorded in 32 US states.]
