The first known cases in Canada of the U.K. variant of the coronavirus were discovered only by fluke, and the couple who fell ill are now facing public-health charges, CBC News has learned.
The woman and man, from Durham Region east of Toronto, had contact with a traveller from the U.K. prior to falling ill, the provincial Health Ministry said last month.
But the ministry also indicated the man and woman initially withheld that information.
“Additional investigation and follow-up case and contact management has revealed that the couple had indeed been in contact with a recent traveller from the U.K., which is new information not provided in earlier interviews,” the ministry said in a Dec. 27 statement, one day after it said the couple had had “no known travel history, exposure or high-risk contacts.”
The Durham Region Health Department confirmed to CBC News that both are facing charges, but would not comment further on the case, citing that the matter is before the courts. The couple has not been named publicly.
It is not clear what the exact charges might be, or whether others might also be charged. Officials said the couple has been served a notice to appear in court in early March. It is believed the charges are under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, a provincial law that gives regional medical officers of health broad power to impose restrictions or conditions to control epidemics.
Detected by fluke
It was only by accident that the coronavirus variant, first reported in the U.K. in December and known as B117, was found in the couple, according to Public Health Ontario.
Currently, if someone tests positive for the more common coronavirus in Ontario, their sample is assessed for the B117 strain in only a few circumstances. According to Public Health Ontario, those include if the person recently travelled outside Canada or have been in contact with someone who did.
‘Airplanes are always going to be faster than science,’ said Amir Attaran, a professor of law and public health, reflecting on the arrival of new coronavirus variants in Canada. (CBC)
But in the case of the Durham couple, Public Health Ontario says their swabs just happened to be processed at a private-sector lab using a test that can also serve as a screen for the B117 strain.
“The test results flagged with the possible variant,” the agency said in an email. “The initial flag by the community lab about the two Durham samples was coincidental, in that they were not purposefully searching for the variant.”
Further genetic sequencing at a Public Health Ontario laboratory confirmed it was the new strain, which scientists consider to be much more contagious but not more virulent.
The B1-17 coronavirus variant, first discovered in the U.K., is now in at least 40 countries, including Canada. It has 23 mutations, including one that attaches to healthy cells like a key going into a lock. 1:56
CBC News canvassed other provincial public health authorities about their efforts to detect the new strain. Only Saskatchewan said that all its current COVID-19 testing will detect the variant. Most provinces said that, like Ontario, they send positive test samples for further scrutiny if the context warrants.
Amir Attaran, a University of Ottawa professor of law and public health, says it was inevitable the coronavirus variant would find its way into Canada.
“We have pleasure travelers going back and forth, as we’ve so recently found out among politicians. This is incompatible with keeping new and dangerous strains out of the country,” Attaran said.
“The problem is that airplanes are always going to be faster than science, and so by the time scientists discover a new dangerous strain and warn about it, the airplanes have crisscrossed in and out of Canada countless times.”
The Durham health department wouldn’t say whether co-workers of the couple have been alerted. It said it does “thorough” contact screening but also said it doesn’t share private health information with employers.
As of Friday, there have been 14 documented cases in Canada of the coronavirus variant first reported in the U.K., and one case of a variant first reported in South Africa, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.
With files from CBC’s Exan Auyoung, Jorge Barrera, Jonathon Gatehouse, Albert Leung, Jasmine Mani, Madeline McNair and Andreas Wesley
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Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said.
“The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday.
“The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added.
Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions.
Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results.
Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention.
The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February.
As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.”
“The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.
The parent company of Air Transat reported it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31. The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
It attributed reduced revenues to lower airline unit revenues, competition, industry-wide overcapacity and economic uncertainty.
Air Transat is also among the airlines facing challenges related to the recall of Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines for inspection and repair.
The recall has so far grounded six aircraft, Guérard said on the call.
“We have agreed to financial compensation for grounded aircraft during the 2023-2024 period,” she said. “Alongside this financial compensation, Pratt & Whitney will provide us with two additional spare engines, which we intend to monetize through a sell and lease back transaction.”
Looking ahead, the CEO said she expects consumer demand to remain somewhat uncertain amid high interest rates.
“We are currently seeing ongoing pricing pressure extending into the winter season,” she added. Air Transat is not planning on adding additional aircraft next year but anticipates stability.
“(2025) for us will be much more stable than 2024 in terms of fleet movements and operation, and this will definitely have a positive effect on cost and customer satisfaction as well,” the CEO told analysts.
“We are more and more moving away from all the disruption that we had to go through early in 2024,” she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
