B.C. health officials are watching closely as a new, likely more transmissible Omicron subvariant spreads south of the border.⁠ ⁠ According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the XBB 1.5 subvariant accounts for more than 40 per cent of new cases in the country, having caused 1.3 per cent of new cases only a month ago.⁠ ⁠ Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says XBB 1.5 was identified in about five people in B.C. before Christmas, and she expects that number to rise.⁠ ⁠ “It’s not increasing rapidly here, but it is one of the subvariants that we know can take off, particularly in areas where you have lower vaccination rates,” she told The Early Edition host Stephen Quinn.⁠ ⁠ Although XBB 1.5 has the potential to spread rapidly, Dr. Henry says there is no evidence it’s causing more severe illness.⁠ ⁠ “That’s one of the things we look for: Is it causing more people to get more severe illness? Is it evading that protection that we have from vaccine or previous infection or some combination of those? And so far there’s no evidence of that,” Henry said. “But we have to keep watching.”⁠ ⁠ To read more about the new subvariant in B.C., tap the link in our bio. #covid19 #covidvariant #britishcolumbia #cbcnews