‘It’s here’: COVID subvariant HV.1 growing in Canada. What to know so far

globalnews.ca:

A new COVID-19 subvariant called HV.1 is gaining traction across Canada, but whether or not it is more contagious than past variants remains to be seen, according to health experts.

HV.1, a subvariant of Omicron, is one of the only lineage groups showing consistent growth in the country, according to Health Canada.

Since August, the subvariant has grown from 2.1 per cent of reported cases to 34.4 per cent as of Oct. 29, Health Canada stated on its website. It also has overtaken other variants that were more dominant in the late spring and summer, such as XBB 1.16 (nicknamed the Arcturus variant).

“It’s here,” infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch told Global News. “If you look at the most recent genomic studies from Ontario it is the most prevalent lineage. And that was at the tail end of October. So by now, it’s much more than that.”

In Ontario, HV.1 was the most prevalent lineage (23.5 per cent) from Oct. 15 to Oct. 21. Public Health Ontario said it is projected to increase to 43.0 per cent by Nov. 8.

Although HV.1 is gaining traction, Health Canada said as of Nov. 7, indicators of COVID-19 activity levels are moderate to low across the country, “with most observing stable to decreasing trends.” COVID-19 activity levels are the highest in Ontario.

Of all of the prevalent COVID-19 strains in Canada, sublineages of XBB (Omicron) made up 94 per cent of sequences in the past month, Health Canada said. This included HV.1.

As HV.1 spreads, health experts like Bogoch are cautioning that it may still be too early to determine if it’s more contagious.

However, according to Bogoch, people can expect more of the same, drawing parallels to the experiences of previous winters.

“We’ve been through this many times now,”