[Slide 1] Good Afternoon Bermuda,
[Slide 2] I am pleased to share with you an update of Bermuda’s current ability to detect new coronavirus variants.
[Slide 3] To recap, as of March 2021 Bermuda can identify certain strains using a 1 hr PCR test. Currently, MDL has 7 different tests that targets 9 different possible mutations within the S gene of the virus. The limitation is that these tests only look at 9 positions and not the entire genetic sequence.
[Slid 4] As certain mutations are shared between multiple Variants of Concern the confirmation of a certain mutation doesn’t automatically confirm the variant. In addition, it has
been shown that some Alpha and Delta lineages share many of the mutations with Omicron.
Luckily there are some unique mutations found in Omicron and our current variant tests can identify 3 of them. Nevertheless to dispel any doubt viral whole genome sequencing is needed to get the full confirmation.
[Slide 5 – movie] I am pleased to inform that as of this weekend Bermuda can conduct viral whole genome sequencing on-island using nanopore sequencing technology. This meant that upon the variant PCR results at 6pm on Sunday indicating that the case is highly likely to be Omicron, MDL was able to start genome sequencing within the hour. The sample was prepped for sequencing within 6 hours and ran over night with data sent for analysis in New York first thing Monday morning. Now that sequencing has confirmed this first case, as well as knowing what the corresponding results for Omicron look like on our variant tests, we can now confirm an Omicron case within an hour.
[Slide 6] The ability for MDL to now do nanopore sequencing of this case was made possible through the collaboration between MDL and Weill Cornell Medicine Center. More specifically, this is due to our partnership with the lab of Dr Chris Mason, Associate Professor and a fellow RNA scientist. Prior to this weekend we were missing some of the pieces to the puzzle for nanopore sequencing, and Dr Mason graciously sent a member of his team to Bermuda which allowed us to officially begin on-island sequencing. I am particularly excited about this development as prior to joining Bermuda’s COVID- 19 Pandemic Response Team, I was performing nanopore Sequencing at Oxford University.
[Slide 7] Going forward we are looking to establish a long-term collaboration with Cornell University and the New York Genome Center, who can sequence thousands of samples at a time as opposed to the 20 samples per month that we can currently send to CARPHA. With the support from the Mason Lab, MDL will be equipped to sequence on-island any of the unordinary cases that may be detected from our variant tests within a matter of hours.
This is a great opportunity for young Bermudians on all fronts as during this past weekend the lab staff at MDL were able to
shadow myself and the lab scientist from the Mason Lab as we performed the sequencing and a young Bermudian Computer Engineering graduate will be trained by the Mason lab Bioinformatician how to conduct the analysis this week.
[Slide 8] In closing, Bermuda now officially has the capacity to do on island nanopore sequencing which adds yet another tool in our toolbox in this fight against the coronavirus.
Thank you.