35% of active COVID-19 cases in New Brunswick are variants

About 35per cent of the active cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick are variants, figures from the Department of Health show.

Theproportion of these highly transmissible variantsis expected to quicklyclimb in the coming days, overtakingthe original strain within weeks, according to theprovince's chief medical officer of health.

Of the 140active cases of COVID-19 in the province Thursday, 49are variants,including two new cases in the Fredericton region, Zone 3, ofthe variant first detected in South Africa,saidDr. Jennifer Russell.

The Saint John region, Zone 2, also has two cases of that variant, while the remainder of the variant cases in the province are of the onefirst reported in the U.K. These cases arespread across the province, with the exception ofthe Campbellton region, Zone 5, she said.

"We are presuming that all new cases are variants of concern, whether it's U.K., South African or the Brazil variant," Russelltold reporters during Thursday'sCOVID update.

New Brunswick has not recorded a case of the P1 variant, first discovered in Brazil,yet,she added.

The dominant variant right now isthe U.K. one,said Russell, noting it has represented 63 per cent of the cases in the Edmundston region, Zone 4, betweenMarch 1 and April 15.

In the U.K.,it took about 10 weeks for it to take over, she said. "So we do expect to see that and are seeing that now.

"But with each progressive variant of concern that is aggressive it's hard to tell at this point in time how that's going to unfold."

90% of samples last week were variants

About 90 per centof the virus samples analyzed at the provincial lab in Monctonlast week were variants, according to Dr. Richard Garceau, a microbiologist-infectious disease specialistand head of the lab at theDr-Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre.

The lab is just days or weeks away from being able to independentlytest for variants, instead of sending samples to the national lab in Winnipeg, which will cut down on wait times,said Vitalit spokespersonThomas Lizotte.

It hasstarted to sequence the COVID samples in parallel with the national lab to ensure the quality of its analysis, he said.

The results from the national lab can take about a week.

A total of184 cases have been confirmed as variants,to date: 180 U.K. and four South African ones,said Russell.

The majority of the U.K. cases, 135, have since recovered, she said.