Residents at Mississauga, Ontario condo with 5 cases of B.351 (So. African) COVID-19 variant being tested 'out of abundance of caution'

[Shiloh]

Source: https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/resident...-tested-out-of-abundance-of-caution-1.5309388

Residents at Mississauga, Ont. condo with 5 cases of B.351 COVID-19 variant being tested 'out of abundance of caution'
Chris Fox
Web Content Writer, CP24
Published Monday, February 15, 2021 10:50AM EST Last Updated Monday, February 15, 2021 2:43PM EST


TORONTO -- Residents of a Mississauga condominium are being tested for COVID-19 today after five cases of the coronavirus variant that originated in South Africa were discovered.

Peel Region Medical Officer of Health Dr. Lawrence Loh says that the widespread, voluntary testing of residents in the building at 385 Prince of Wales Drive is being done “out of an abundance of caution” due to concerns about the potential rapid spread of the variant.

Testing will be conducted floor by floor between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
COVID-19 Coverage from CTV News

“This testing is being done out of an abundance of caution. This is really an attempt for us to be absolutely sure that the variant is no longer detected within the condo community,” Loh said on Monday morning.

Loh said that Peel Public Health has been unable to find a travel link with any of the cases of the South African variant that have been discovered so far.

He said that the concern is that “there may be transmission occurring within the building itself.”

“We have conducted an infection prevention and control inspection (at the building) and are continuing our investigation to identify a linkage between the cases that have been detected,” he said...

 

[kiwibird]

https://torontosun.com/news/provinc...o-may-be-linked-to-common-areas-peels-top-doc

Public health officials have been unable to link the cases directly to travel or to each other, Loh said.

Ventilation in the building does not seem to be the method of spread, he said.

“What we are wondering about is transmission in common areas, corridors, elevators, etc, which really would speak to how much more transmissible the variant is,” Loh said Monday. “There seems to be something in the common elements or there seems to be something in the way that those people are moving through the building together that may have led to these exposures and really speaks to the need for us to be vigilant and to double down on the precautions.”

Premature to rule out ventilation systems if they can't find the link between cases - IMO. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck and quacks - it is probably a duck.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-76442-2

Evidence suggests that SARS-CoV-2, as well as other coronaviruses, can be dispersed and potentially transmitted by aerosols directly or via ventilation systems. We therefore investigated ventilation openings in one COVID-19 ward and central ducts that expel indoor air from three COVID-19 wards at Uppsala University Hospital, Sweden, during April and May 2020.
...
In two consecutive surface sampling rounds, performed on April 17 and 28, 2020, both SARS-CoV-2 N and E gene RNA were detected in seven (36.8%) out of 19 vent openings, while 11 days later, four vents (21%) were positive for both genes
...
In two consecutive surface sampling rounds, performed on April 17 and 28, 2020, both SARS-CoV-2 N and E gene RNA were detected in seven (36.8%) out of 19 vent openings, while 11 days later, four vents (21%) were positive for both genes

 

[sharon sanders]

bump this

 

[blacknail]

Peel Region (including Mississauga, Ontario) is under a stay-at-home order with big fines for breaking that order. It is just as likely that the 5 people had a covert gathering or gatherings and don't want to admit it to public health.