New Brunswick reports 9 COVID-19 deaths, confirms 1st cases of new Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5

Nine more New Brunswickers have died from COVID-19, and the province has confirmed its first two cases of the new Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, which is spreading quickly in the United States and gaining ground in Canada.

XBB.1.5, also known as Kraken, is "the most transmissible" subvariant detected to date, the World Health Organization told reporters during a news conference in Geneva last week.

It also appears to be able to escape immunity but doesn't appear to cause more severe disease than previous variants, officials have said.

"While the Department of Health had previously identified a handful of XBB cases over the previous months, it confirmed two cases of XBB.1.5 in the past few days," Dr. Yves Léger, acting chief medical officer of health, said in an emailed statement Tuesday.

As a result, the department has added a new XBB category to the COVID-19 sequencing results chart in the weekly COVIDWatch report, he said.

Of the 191 most recent random samples sent for genetic sequencing, six per cent were XBB, the report shows.

"As we indicated before, if the department determined there was a change of significance, or if there was value in sharing additional information about a certain variant, it would adjust the way it shares its data through its regular COVIDWATCH reports. This is an example of how we've done that," said Léger, who was unavailable for an interview.

"Although research on this subvariant is still in the preliminary stages, there's no evidence yet that the XBB.1.5 variant is more severe than others. However, we wanted to note its presence as it's been identified as a commonly spreading strain in many other jurisdictions."

XBB.1.5, first identified in October, has now been detected in at least 29 countries.

It accounted for about 28 per cent of U.S. COVID-19 cases last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Public Health Agency of Canada told CBC last Wednesday it was aware of 21 cases in Canada, although more have since been confirmed.

XBB, an offshoot of the Omicron BA.2 subvariant, contains multiple sublineages, including XBB.1.5, according to Adam Bowie, spokesperson for the Department of Health.

XBB1.5 evolved through a recombination of Omicron BA.2.10.1 and Omicron BA.2.75. This happens when someone is infected by two strains at the same time, and they combine within their host during the viral replication process to form a new variant.

The breakdown of the rest of the samples sequenced shows 92 per cent were the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.5, and two per cent were the Omicron subvariant BA.2. The Department of Health does not provide a further breakdown of sublineages.

"Deaths remained stable" Jan. 1 to Jan. 7, according to the COVIDWatch report.