All residents of a condominium in central Mississauga will be tested for COVID-19 on Monday after five cases of the coronavirus variant that originated in South Africa have been confirmed at that location.
Peel Public Health said widespread testing will be conducted to help stop the spread of the contagious variant known as B.1.351.
"We are taking this urgent step now while community spread of this variant is still low," a spokesperson for Peel Public Health said in a statement.
Testing will be conducted floor by floor from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Residents can also go to a testing centre in the community. The health unit declined to name the condominium "because it is an active investigation."
"As we begin to see variants of concern spread within the community, we are at a critical point in the pandemic response as these variants have the ability erase the progress we have made as a community," Dr. Lawrence Loh, the medical officer of health in Peel Region, said in a statement.
"It is imperative that residents continue to follow the guidelines of Public Health and limit interactions with others so that we can stop the spread."
Peel Public Health reported the first known case of the B.1.351 variant in the province earlier this month. It was detected in a Mississauga man who, officials said, likely acquired the infection in the community.
Peel Region also has 30 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant that first emerged in the United Kingdom.
