Canada confirms first cases of infectious Covid-19 variant first found in UK
It comes after cases were confirmed in countries across Europe.
Canada has confirmed its first cases of the new highly infectious variant of Covid-19 that was first detected in the UK.
The associate chief medical officer of Canada’s Ontario province, Dr Barbara Yaffe, announced the first two confirmed cases in a statement issued on Saturday.
It comes after cases were confirmed in countries across Europe including France, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Iceland and the Netherlands, as well as various reports of the variant around the globe in Australia, Japan and Lebanon.
Dr Yaffe said the cases in Canada are a couple from the Durham region with no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts.
Both individuals have been informed and are in self isolation.
She said: “This further reinforces the need for Ontarians to stay home as much as possible and continue to follow all public health advice, including the province-wide shutdown measures beginning today.”
The news follows the first shipments of coronavirus vaccines arriving across the European Union, including in Ireland where they were welcomed as a “great hope”.
The new, more contagious variant in the UK, which was announced last week, prompted global travel restrictions.
It led to strict new coronavirus restrictions being imposed across Britain, affecting millions more people.
Boxing Day sales looked to have suffered a sharp decline after Tier 4 measures came into effect on Saturday in large parts of England, with people ordered to “stay at home”.
New lockdown measures also came into effect in Scotland and Northern Ireland, forcing non-essential shops to shut, while restrictions were reimposed in Wales on Saturday after they were eased for Christmas Day.
However, shoppers in lower tier zones queued for bargains in the early hours of the morning, with around 200 people waiting in a socially-distanced queue by 5.50am outside Next in Leicester, which is under Tier 3 restrictions.
It comes as the Government announced a further 210 people died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus as of Boxing Day, while there were a further 34,693 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.
Meanwhile, congestion continued to ease at the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel on Boxing Day after thousands of drivers spent spent Christmas Day stuck in nearly a week-long of queues.
Elsewhere, a small number of Boxing Day hunts went ahead, with the centuries-old activity seeing reduced participation and town centre parades cancelled on Saturday.
However, it drew some criticism for going ahead, with Labour decrying the decision as “one rule for the Conservatives and their mates, another for everybody else”.
Areas that moved to Tier 4 are Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, parts of Essex not yet in the highest tier, Waverley in Surrey and Hampshire, with the exception of the New Forest.
Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset including the North Somerset council area, Swindon, the Isle of Wight, the New Forest and Northamptonshire, as well as Cheshire and Warrington, were moved to Tier 3, while Cornwall and Herefordshire moved from Tier 1 to Tier 2.
Mainland Scotland entered Level 4 restrictions from Saturday, with the Scottish Government intending the increased measures to last for three weeks.
In Northern Ireland, the first week measures are the toughest yet, with a form of curfew in operation from 8pm, shops closed from that time and all indoor and outdoor gatherings prohibited until 6am.
Non-essential retail will close throughout the next six weeks, as will close-contact services, while hospitality outlets will be limited to takeaway services.
