A team of researchers at St. Paul’s Hospital first detected an entire cluster of cases of the P.1 variant – most commonly associated with Brazil – that were previously unknown earlier this month. In subsequent days, they’ve found even more. As of Friday at noon, they revealed they’ve discovered a total of 215 of the P.1 variant through their screening, a number not yet reported by provincial officials.
“At St. Paul’s Hospital we’ve actually identified more P.1 variants than the entire United States,” said. Dr. Marc Romney, co-author and medical leader of the microbiology and virology department at the facility. “This is concerning because P.1 is associated with immune evasion.”
