WINNIPEG -- A Manitoba First Nation said recent tests have determined a COVID-19 variant of concern first discovered in the United Kingdom is not behind a recent outbreak in the community.

Pauingassi First Nation said it received confirmation Tuesday morning that sequencing results have determined seven recent positive cases of COVID-19 in the community are not the B117 variant.

“While we are not out of the woods yet, so to speak, it is a great relief that we are not in fact dealing with the B.1.1.7 U.K. variant of concern,” Chief Roddy Owens, of the Pauingassi First Nation, said in a statement. “We will continue to work with our health counterparts and ensure that we keep our Nation as safe as possible.”

The statement said the initial screening looks for a genetic marker to indicate whether the sample is a variant of concern. While the variant found in Northern Manitoba shared the genetic marker with the B117 variant, the First Nation said the sequencing has shown all of the seven samples are not the variant.

Dr. Marcia Anderson, who leads the First Nation Pandemic Response Coordination Team, said they were aware of the possibility of a false positive for the variant, but said they had to test due to the higher transmissibility of the variant.

“We know that delays in identifying contacts, testing, or isolating cases and contacts can result in much greater spread of COVID-19 so swift action was taken by all partners to implement the enhanced public health measures for Variants of Concern (VOC),” Anderson said in a statement. “This was a good learning opportunity to see what the implications will be for public health and the health workforce when a VOC enters First Nation communities.”

Dr. Brent Roussin, Manitoba’s chief provincial public health officer, said the sequencing determined the genome of the samples were comparable to others in the province, and are awaiting further sequencing.

To date, only one case of the B117 variant has been identified in Manitoba, Roussin said. He said the challenge of dealing with RNA viruses is seeing further variants emerge.

“What’s going to be important is whether they’re of any concern,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of sequencing here in Manitoba dating back to March, and have seen many variants. All of the ones we’ve discovered aren’t really variants of concern; they don’t increase transmission or increase severity.”

Roussin said the province will connect with national and international databases to follow the variants as they develop over time.