To screen all severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-positive samples in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and determine whether they represented variants of concern, we implemented a real-time reverse transcription PCR-based algorithm. We rapidly identified 77 samples with variants: 57 with B.1.1.7, 7 with B.1.351, and an epidemiologic cluster of 13 with B.1.1.28/P.1.
Keywords: 2019 novel coronavirus disease; B.1.1.28/P.1; British Columbia; COVID-19; Canada; K417N; N501Y; SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus disease; respiratory infections; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; spike; viruses; zoonoses.