Lack of detention space could force CBSA to release detainees, internal memo warns
The Canada Border Services Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.
Scientists and health officials around the world are keeping their eyes on a descendant of the Omicron variant that has been found in at least 40 countries, including the United States and Canada.
This version of the coronavirus, which scientists call BA.2, is widely considered stealthier than the original version of Omicron because particular genetic traits make it somewhat harder to detect. Some scientists worry it could also be more contagious.
But they say there's a lot they still don't know about it, including whether it evades vaccines better or causes more severe disease.
Since mid-November, more than three dozen countries have uploaded nearly 15,000 genetic sequences of BA.2 to GISAID, a global platform for sharing coronavirus data. As of Tuesday morning, 96 of those sequenced cases came from the U.S.
“Thus far, we haven't seen it start to gain ground” in the U.S., said Dr. Wesley Long, a pathologist at Houston Methodist in Texas, which has identified three cases of BA.2.
The mutant appears much more common in Asia and Europe. In Denmark, it made up 45% of all COVID-19 cases in mid-January, up from 20% two weeks earlier, according to Statens Serum Institut, which falls under the Danish Ministry of Health.
BA.2 has lots of mutations. About 20 of them in the spike protein that studs the outside of the virus are shared with the original Omicron. But it also has additional genetic changes not seen in the initial version.
It's unclear how significant those mutations are, especially in a population that has encountered the original Omicron, said Dr. Jeremy Luban, a virologist at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
For now, the original version, known as BA.1, and BA.2 are considered subsets of omicron. But global health leaders could give it its own Greek letter name if it is deemed a globally significant “variant of concern.”
The quick spread of BA.2 in some places raises concerns it could take off.
“We have some indications that it just may be as contagious or perhaps slightly more contagious than (original) Omicron since it's able to compete with it in some areas,” Long said. “But we don't necessarily know why that is.”
An initial analysis by scientists in Denmark shows no differences in hospitalizations for BA.2 compared with the original Omicron. Scientists there are still looking into this version's infectiousness and how well current vaccines work against it. It's also unclear how well treatments will work against it.
Doctors also don't yet know for sure if someone who's already had COVID-19 caused by Omicron can be sickened again by BA.2. But they're hopeful, especially that a prior Omicron infection might lessen the severity of disease if someone later contracts BA.2.
The two versions of omicron have enough in common that it's possible that infection with the original mutant “will give you cross-protection against BA.2,” said Dr. Daniel Kuritzkes, an infectious diseases expert at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Scientists will be conducting tests to see if antibodies from an infection with the original Omicron “are able to neutralize BA.2 in the laboratory and then extrapolate from there,” he said.
The World Health Organization classifies Omicron overall as a variant of concern, its most serious designation of a coronavirus mutant, but it doesn't single out BA.2 with a designation of its own. Given its rise in some countries, however, the agency says investigations of BA.2 “should be prioritized.”
The U.K. Health Security Agency, meanwhile, has designated BA.2 a “variant under investigation,” citing the rising numbers found in the U.K. and internationally. Still, the original version of omicron remains dominant in the U.K.
The original version of Omicron had specific genetic features that allowed health officials to rapidly differentiate it from Delta using a certain PCR test because of what's known as “S gene target failure.”
BA.2 doesn't have this same genetic quirk. So on the test, Long said, BA.2 looks like delta.
“It's not that the test doesn't detect it; it's just that it doesn't look like omicron,” he said. “Don't get the impression that `stealth Omicron' means we can't detect it. All of our PCR tests can still detect it.”
Doctors advise the same precautions they have all along: Get vaccinated and follow public health guidance about wearing masks, avoiding crowds and staying home when you're sick.
“The vaccines are still providing good defence against severe disease, hospitalization and death,” Long said. “Even if you've had COVID 19 before - you've had a natural infection - the protection from the vaccine is still stronger, longer lasting and actually ... does well for people who've been previously infected.”
The latest version is another reminder that the pandemic hasn't ended.
“We all wish that it was over,” Long said, ”but until we get the world vaccinated, we're going to be at risk of having new variants emerge.”
----
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Canada Border Services Agency is scrambling to find space to hold high-risk detainees that are set to be transferred from provincial jails in June.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
Guitar legend Dickey Betts, who co-founded the Allman Brothers Band and wrote their biggest hit, 'Ramblin' Man,' has died. He was 80.
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
Ontario Provincial Police say they have 'disrupted' an organized crime group that allegedly used an emergency grandparent scam to defraud seniors across Canada out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A Google Drive link allegedly containing 17 tracks that are purportedly from Swift's eagerly awaited "The Tortured Poets Department" album has been making the rounds on the internet in the past day and people are equal parts mad, sad and happy about it.
A motion to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh within Queen’s Park failed to receive unanimous consent Thursday just moments after Ontario Premier Doug Ford reiterated his view that prohibiting the garment in the House is divisive.
The journey to home ownership can be exciting, but personal finance columnist Christopher Liew warns about the trappings of becoming 'house poor' -- where an overwhelming portion of your income is devoured by housing costs. Liew offers some practical strategies to maintain better financial health while owning a home.
Calgary police say Winston Campbell, 45, has been charged in the death of a two-year-old girl in 2022.
Molly Knight, a grade four student in Nova Scotia, noticed her school library did not have many books on female athletes, so she started her own book drive in hopes of changing that.
Almost 7,000 bars of pure gold were stolen from Pearson International Airport exactly one year ago during an elaborate heist, but so far only a tiny fraction of that stolen loot has been found.
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
A moulting seal who was relocated after drawing daily crowds of onlookers in Greater Victoria has made a surprise return, after what officials described as an 'astonishing' six-day journey.
Just steps from Parliament Hill is a barber shop that for the last 100 years has catered to everyone from prime ministers to tourists.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
A compound used to treat sour gas that's been linked to fertility issues in cattle has been found throughout groundwater in the Prairies, according to a new study.
While many people choose to keep their medical appointments private, four longtime friends decided to undergo vasectomies as a group in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.
A popular highway in Alberta's Banff National Park now has a 'no stopping zone' to help protect two bears.