Updated data from the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ) shows that Montreal is currently managing 197 confirmed cases of COVID-19 virus variants, first identified in Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
As of March 12, public health officials had recorded Montreal's first confirmed case of the B.1.351 variant strain, which was identified in South Africa.Â
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In addition, INSPQ has reported one confirmed case of the P.1 virus variant, identified in Brazil, and 193 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant identified in the U.K.
Two variant strain cases have been identified as "other," which INSPQ says "are closely monitored but have not been identified as requiring enhanced surveillance."
Though public health has only reported 197 confirmed variant strain cases in Montreal, INSPQ data shows there are also 885 presumptive variant strain cases under surveillance by the city.