2 new COVID-19 subvariants are growing twice as fast as B.A.5 in Ontario, public health agency says
CBC
Public Health Ontario says the proportion of the new BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 Omicron subvariants in the province is growing twice as quickly as the dominant BA.5 strain.
The health agency says that while not a lot is known yet about the BQ subvariants, there is a high risk of increased transmissibility, reinfection and lowered vaccine effectiveness.
Dr. Gerald Evans, an infectious disease expert at Queen's University, says Ontarians should not be "overly worried" at this point about the BQ subvariants, though the growth rate is a cause for some concern.
Public Health Ontario says COVID-19 activity in the province is generally stable, though it has been gradually increasing since early September.
A report today comparing the week ending Oct. 22 to the week prior says the percentage of positive tests is roughly the same — 15.8 per cent, down slightly from 16.1 per cent — though that's higher than the July peak of 14.8 per cent.
Meanwhile on Thursday, Ontario reported 1,921 COVID-19 hospitalizations — the highest reported hospitalization rate since February, along with 121 more COVID-19 deaths.
The hospitalizations are a jump from 1,663 at the same time last week, when the province reported 109 new deaths.
Not since Feb. 9 has Ontario seen COVID-19 hospitalizations this high. On that day, the province reported 2,059 people in hospital with the virus.
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