A COVID-19 variant is in Windsor-Essex, but experts say there's no reason to 'panic'

Despite confirmation of a COVID-19 variant in Windsor-Essex, health experts say there's no reason to panic as long as people continue to follow the same safety measures. 

On Thursday, the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit confirmed that an unspecified coronavirus variant has been identified in the region. At this time, tests are being performed to confirm if the variant is the one that was identified in the U.K., the one found in South Africa or another variant. 

Some health officials suspected a variant was here months ago due to the pattern and rate of spread in the region, but this is the first time it's been confirmed through testing. 

While the variants have shown to spread more easily between people and one may be slightly more resistant to the vaccine, infectious disease physician Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti from Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga says there's no need to "panic." 

Chakrabarti told CBC News that variants are a natural part of a virus' evolution and are bound to arise over time. However, sometimes a variant of concern can arise and those need to be monitored closely.

"The variants are there and I think that these things should be looked at and I think that we should have concern but I certainly think that we don't need to panic," he said.  

He said it obviously causes concern, especially in high-risk settings like long-term care homes and essential workplaces. But people just need to follow the appropriate measures. 

"You still want to do and not forget about the tried and true public health practices that we know work to prevent infection with COVID-19," he said and listed mask wearing, physical distancing, small group sizes and hand washing. 

Potential for a third COVID-19 wave

But with regions on the cusp of reopening once again, he said it's understandable that people are worried the new variant may bring about a third wave. 

And modelling does show that Ontario could face a third wave if the new variants aren't controlled. 

"With opening up, I think that the right way to do it is to do it slowly, deliberately, be closely monitoring it and you have the ability to pivot if the regional area that you're monitoring does end up going in the wrong direction," he said. 

Even if a third wave were to arise, Chakrabarti said it likely won't be as severe as the first two since vaccinations are well underway. 

In Windsor-Essex, cases have been declining since mid-January, with 30 new cases reported Thursday. 

There are 44 in hospital, with 11 in ICU. 

These numbers are half those seen about three to four weeks ago. 

Based on how hard the second wave hit Windsor-Essex, the hospital's chief of staff Dr. Wassim Saad had suspected that a variant was in the region a few months ago.  

"Normally the coronavirus would double every 40 days or so and with our local numbers it was doubling close to 10 to 15 days which is on par with what the UK variant was doing in other parts of the world so the suspicion was there," he said. 

Since it's only one case, Saad said he hasn't heard much concern. 

But Saad said people still need to be on guard, especially since the variants can spread from one person to another in a matter of minutes or seconds. 

"It should reinforce the fact that we have to be ever more vigilant," he said. 

"We are not sure that there's going to be a third wave. A lot of factors go into whether or not third wave occurs or not ...[but] when you combine the fact that we are not yet where we need to be with respect to herd immunity in the mass vaccination combined with now a new variant that is in our community that could take a foothold — yes there is a legitimate concern of a potential third wave over the next several weeks."