Indian variant: “It hurts a little more than others”

After detecting the first case of an Indian variant in Quebec, provincial health officials were on “hypervigilance” when they handed over Christian Dubey, the country’s first-listed health minister, in an interview with TVA Novelles on Wednesday.

Also read: The first case of an Indian variant found in Marisi and Center-du-Quebec

Also read: While the Brazilian variant will be the majority in Vancouver, the Indian variant will be of concern

“It hurts a little more than others, because we know it is less responsive to the vaccines we currently have,” the minister agreed.

He said public health would have to do “hyper-isolation” and “major analyzes” in the coming days.

Mr. Dubey assures though.

“Public health is very close to this case and we are going to take the necessary steps,” he said.

The Minister of Health confirmed that the Legalt government would take steps with the federal government to close certain borders, international or regional, to curb the spread of variants in Quebec.

“We are under a lot of pressure to see if we can close some borders,” Christian Dubey said.

According to the minister, the government wants such a move to be implemented very soon.

“This is of great concern to us and we are moving forward to have this ban in place in the coming days,” Mr Dubey said.

The next “likes” are an example of British Columbia, where the Brazilian variant became the majority.

Physicians and experts in the western province are also urging the government to ban international flights to stop the spread of the more contagious COVID-19 variants.