More than 2,000 people who returned to Canada since the federal government brought in mandatory hotel quarantines have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than a quarter of them were infected with a variant of concern.
Data supplied to The Canadian Press by the Public Health Agency of Canada show that between Feb. 22 and April 22, 557 international air travellers tested positive for a variant of concern.
Most of them — 518 cases — were infected with the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the United Kingdom, which is the dominant variant in Canada. Another 27 passengers tested positive for the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa, while 12 tested positive for the P.1 variant identified in Brazil.
