Albertans In Contact With A COVID-19 Variant Case Now Have To Isolate For 24 Days

On Tuesday, February 2, Dr. Deena Hinshaw provided an Alberta COVID-19 update to the public. 

The top doctor noted that 57 COVID-19 variant cases have been detected in the province. 

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If cases choose to stay home during their isolation period, their household contacts will now need to stay at home as well [...] for a total of 24 days. Dr. Hinshaw

The health official said that the number of variant cases is as high as it is on account of "the excellent work of our lab to expand variant testing quickly, and to the border pilot program, which has detected 28 of our variant cases."

The 57 cases include 50 of the variant first detected in the U.K. and seven of the one that was first found in South Africa. 

Hinshaw says that the enhanced isolation measures for contacts of variant cases are necessary to prevent community spread "given how easily this variant is spreading in homes."

Of the 57 variant cases, eight of them have no currently identified links to travel.

Though, Hinshaw did note that four of the cases are linked to a daycare outbreak.