Calgary student attended school while infectious with coronavirus variant

The child of a person who travelled outside of Alberta attended school in Calgary while infectious with a coronavirus variant, the province's chief medical officer of health says.

Dr. Deena Hinshaw said in a post on Twitter late Monday evening that there is no evidence to date that anyone else was infected, and that the child's class and staff at risk of being exposed were already in quarantine as close contacts.

"Health care teams have contacted anyone who may have been potentially exposed and offered them the chance to get tested twice to reduce any potential for further onward transmission," Hinshaw said, adding that more information would be provided on Tuesday.

Hinshaw did not say where the child's parent had travelled or which variant was involved.

There are currently 51 cases of the coronavirus variants first identified in the U.K. and in South Africa in Alberta. Of those, six cases in three households have no clear link to travel.

• Alberta now has 51 cases of coronavirusvariants

Scientists have said the new strains could be as much as 50 per cent more transmissible than the primary strain that has been circulating in Alberta up to this point.England and Ireland have seen theB117 variant spread rapidly throughout their populations.

There are currently 701 cases in schools across Alberta, with about 12 per cent of the province's total schools on outbreak.