Here’s what you need to know about the new COVID-19 variant detected in Ontario

Dr. Isaac Bogoch gives his insight on the new COVID-19 variant in Ontario and his recommendations for vaccinations.

A new COVID-19 variant that’s been found in nearly two dozen countries and half of the 50 United States has made its way to Ontario.

Dubbed BA.3.2, the variant was first identified in South Africa on Nov. 22, 2024, and later detected in the U.S. on June 27, 2025, through the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s traveller surveillance program.

Since then, it’s been found in wastewater samples from 25 U.S. states and been reported in at least 23 countries, according to the CDC.

Canada is among those countries reporting cases of BA.3.2, and 21 infections were found in Ontario from Jan. 18 to Feb. 14, Public Health Ontario’s latest epidemiological survey shows.

BA.3.2 ‘nothing new’: infectious diseases expert

While news of a new COVID-19 variant may be alarming to some, infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch says the discovery will change little about how the virus is diagnosed and treated.

“The symptom range is still going to be the same, and the prevention is still going to be the same. So, from people’s day-to-day lives, in terms of, what does this look like for me? What does this look like for the community? Nothing. There’s going to be nothing new versus what we’ve seen over the last, let’s call it three years or so,” he told CP24 Tuesday morning.

Bogoch explained that, unlike the original COVID-19 strain which overloaded hospitals globally and brought the world to a screeching halt in 2020, the virus is no longer novel due to the fact that most people have either contracted it or been vaccinated against it.

“That’s why it’s turned into a virus that completely overwhelmed our health-care system for a couple of years, to a virus that still packs a punch, needs to be respected, but is predominantly causing significant illness in the extremes of age and in those who are immunocompromised,” he said.

“That doesn’t mean those people deserve less care. Of course, we need to take steps to protect all Canadians, but it’s just not overwhelming our health-care system like it once did.”

According to Public Health Ontario’s online Respiratory Virus Tool, COVID-19 activity was lower in the province between March 15 and 21, versus the previous week. The data also shows that while cases appear to have spiked from November to mid-January, infections have levelled off since then.