Omicron variant has arrived in the Kingston area, health unit says

The health unit for the Kingston, Ont., area is reporting its first COVID-19 case confirmed as the rapidly emerging omicron variant.

The case involves an individual with no apparent travel history, according to the Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox&AddingtonPublic Health.

Canada's first cases of omicron were reported in Ottawa on Nov. 28, and they involved two people who had recently travelled from Nigeria.

Since then, there have been dozens of similar cases reported throughout the country. The factthat several of those cases including the one confirmed Wednesday in the Kingston region appear not to be tied to international travel hasprompted concerns the variant is already driving outbreaks here.

• Pfizer-BioNTech pushing 3-dose COVID-19 vaccination to fight omicron variant

• Tracking omicron: Canadian scientists race to understand new variant

COVID-19 caseshave been on a dramatic rise in the Kingston area in recent weeks, with the health unit already having dropped the indoor gathering limit to 10 people ahead of the holidays.

There were 88 cases reported Tuesday, a new one-day record for the region.

In a statement, Dr. Piotr Oglaza, the region's medical officer of health,urged people to adhere to public health measures, limit or avoid social gatheringsand stay home if they had COVID-19symptoms.

CBC requested an interview with Oglaza, but the health unit said he was not available Wednesday.