'I'm sure that it’s here': Experts say 'Kraken' subvariant could already be circulating in Waterloo region

A new report shows the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant known as ‘Kraken’ is on track to become Ontario’s dominant strain - leading experts to believe it could already be circulating in Waterloo region.

The report was released by Public Health Ontario on Tuesday and projected that the XBB.1.5 or 'Kraken' will represent more than one-fifth, or 22 per cent, of all cases in the province as of Jan. 18. In December, it was only representing two per cent of cases in Ontario.

Testing was done among high-risk groups between Dec. 4 and Dec. 31 and resulted in 36 confirmed Kraken cases in five nearby health units neighbouring Waterloo region. The report found six cases in Brant County and eight cases in Haldimand Norfolk County.

There weren’t any Kraken cases reported in December in Waterloo region or the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph area, but one local expert said it won’t be that way for long.

Craig Janes, a public health sciences professor at the University of Waterloo said it would be surprising if it wasn’t already circulating locally.

“We have a population that moves about. The Waterloo and Kitchener area is a university community. We have students commuting regularly from the greater Toronto area, so I’m sure that it's here,” said Janes.

On Jan. 4, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Kraken the most transmissible subvarient seen to date.

While Kraken is known to be highly contagious, it is not more virulent than other strains.

"Even if it doesn't cause more severe disease than other Omicron variants, if it's spreading faster, it's still worrisome because the virus is more likely to reach vulnerable people who could be hospitalized and die from the infection," a specialist in medical biology at Quebec's public health institute (INSPQ), Ines Levade told CTV News earlier this month.