New Omicron subvariant expected to become dominant in Ontario as cases rise

Cases of a new, highly-transmissible Omicron subvariant have risen in Ontario, and the former head of the province’s science table said it will become the next dominant COVID-19 strain.

Cases of a new, highly-transmissible Omicron subvariant have risen in Ontario, and the former head of the province’s science table said it will become the next dominant COVID-19 strain.

Speaking to CP24 on Tuesday, Dr. Fahad Razak said subvariant XBB.1.5, also known as the 'Kraken,' has been surging south of the border and it's only a matter of time until Ontario sees a similar jump.

"If we follow the U.S. trajectory, that means that this will become the dominant version of the virus circulating probably within just a few weeks in Ontario and across the country," said Razak, an internist at St. Michael's Hospital.

According to the latest COVID-19 genomic surveillance report from Public Health Ontario released Tuesday, the XBB.1.5 subvariant is expected to account for 22.2 per cent of COVID-19 cases by the end of this week.

That is a significant jump from weeks ago when only 0.7 per cent of COVID-19 cases were that of the Kraken subvariant. Between Dec. 4 and Dec. 31, there were 105 cases of XBB.1.5 in Ontario. Most of the infected were from the 40 to 59 age group.

As of last week, the Omicron BQ.1.1 subvariant was still the dominant version.

But that will change soon as Razak said XBB.1.5 has emerged as the most concerning among other Omicron subvariants.