British Columbia has confirmed 24 cases of the new Omicron subvariant known as XBB 1.5 (or Kraken) to date, making up roughly five to six percent of all genome-sequenced samples in the province.
Health Minister Adrian Dix and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry provided the update during a press conference Friday afternoon.
Henry said the other 95 percent of the samples sequenced in British Columbia are another Omicron offspring known as BQ.1.1 — meaning XBB 1.5 (or “Kraken”) is far from the province’s dominant strain.
CBC News is streaming the officials’ remarks live.
The briefing comes a day after the British Columbia Center for Disease Control released data showing that the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 continues to slowly decline, with just over 300 people currently in hospital.
The data also showed an overall decrease in the number of deaths from COVID-19 in the past two months, with 34 deaths in the last week of 2022.
The center said flu outbreaks are also declining and no more children have died from the flu, but rates of positive RSV tests remain high.
Still, Dix said last week the province was expecting some “very challenging weeks for our health care system” as a result of more people gathering in person last month for the holidays.
The XBB 1.5 subvariant is spreading rapidly in the US and is predicted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to soon account for about 45 percent of COVID-19 cases in this country.
British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix and Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry at a press conference on October 5, 2021. (Mike McArthur/CBC)
For British Columbia cases, hospitalizations and wastewater testing are a better indicator to monitor the extent of the disease’s impact, as the actual number of cases is likely higher than what the BCCDC is reporting.
Reported cases are primarily based on laboratory-confirmed PCR tests, which are currently unavailable to the majority of British Columbians.
A total of 4,961 people in British Columbia are believed to have died from causes related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
The number of deaths, hospitalizations and reported cases may be revised retrospectively as the BCCDC and provincial health departments receive updated data from regional health authorities.
Add Comment