A new subvariant of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is dominating in Canada, accounting for just over 30% of cases in the country, but infectious disease experts say there is no indication it will develop into something "scary" this summer.

Dr. Tyson Graber, a researcher at the CHEO Research Institute in Ottawa, explained that the new subvariant, KP.2, is not actually new; it is a mix of accumulated mutations.

Omicron, the tidal wave variant that spread in late 2022, is the "mother" of KP.2, which will eventually replace JN.1, the dominant Omicron variant up to this point.

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease physician and scientist at the University of Toronto's health network, said, “When you look at the impact of each wave in the Omicron era, the impact has been gradually decreasing.”

Bogoch stated, "It's clear that it’s early and we must be humble. But are there any new symptoms associated with this? That's not what we know. Do we expect this to cause a huge wave of coronavirus? Probably not. Will it cause some COVID disease? 'Definitely.'

On social media - which has drawn disdain from some in the scientific community - KP.2 is also referred to as the FLiRT variant, an acronym for the letters indicating mutations in the spike protein.

While most data systems that were tracking the spread of COVID-19 on a daily basis have been dismantled, national wastewater data indicate that KP.2 has surpassed JN.1 as the most common variant in Canada as of April 28. In the United States, KP.2 also accounts for nearly 30 percent of COVID-19 cases, according to the latest from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In Ontario, JN.1 is still the most common variant at just over 19 percent, but KP.2 appears to be catching up, representing about 11 percent of cases.

Despite the growth, Graber said, "There is currently no clear evidence, or reason to believe it will have a serious widespread impact."

He added, in other words: "It's not scary."