Canada has found its first case of a coronavirus infection from the highly mutated BA.2.86 variant of Omicron in a man from British Columbia who had not traveled outside the Pacific province, health officials said Tuesday.
In a joint statement, the province’s top doctor Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix said the person is not hospitalized, and that the detection of the BA.2.86 virus has not changed the risk for people in British Columbia.
“The appearance of BA.2.86 in Canada and the provinces was not unexpected,” he added. “Covid-19 continues to spread globally, and the virus continues to adapt.”