Canada's Quebec said province discovers first case of new COVID-19 variant

FILE PHOTO: Medical personnel unload a patient from a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130J Hercules transport aircraft which departed from Saskatoon, after the province of Saskatchewan said it would be sending patients with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from overloaded ICU wards to Ontario hospitals, in Kingston, Ontario, Canada October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Lars Hagberg

MONTREAL (Reuters) - Quebec has discovered its first case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, the Canadian province's health minister said on Monday, bringing Canada's total number of cases to three.

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé also told reporters at a briefing that 115 travelers coming from countries impacted by the new variant, primarily South Africa, were called and asked to take a new PCR test for COVID-19.