Variants now in the South zone

By Alberta Newspaper Group on March 11, 2021.

Cases of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, commonly referred to as the U.K. variant because it was first identified there, has now been found in the South zone.

After several weeks with the South being the only zone without any variants, Alberta Health has now confirmed there are currently 11 cases of the B.1.1.7. That number was seven on Tuesday.

According to the numbers released by Alberta Health on Wednesday there are a total of 734 variant cases in the province, an increase of 47 in the last 24 hours. Of the total number, 721 cases are of the B.1.1.7 (U.K. variant) and 13 of the B.1.351 also called the South Africa variant because it was first identified in that country.

In the Calgary zone there are 260 cases of the U.K. variant plus 11 of the South Africa variant for a total of 271 in that zone. In Edmonton there are 315 of the U.K. variant and two of the South Africa variant, central zone has 130 of the U.K. variant only and the north zone has five cases of the U.K. variant and none of the South Africa variant.

Alberta Health says variants have a higher infection rate.

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