Omicron’s new subtype XBB.1.5, which is spreading across the US, already accounts for 40% of the country’s Covid-19 cases, compared to 20% recorded last week, it was announced this Tuesday.
According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this subregion is leading the number of Covid-19 cases in the country and is particularly prevalent in the Northwest.
In areas like New York, it has already reached 75% of confirmed cases.
The CDC warns that this dominant sub-variant of Covid-19 “may be more transmissible than other variants”, although it is not yet known whether it has “more serious” consequences.
North American hospitals experienced an increase in admissions in the past month, although the Northwest region, which had the highest number of cases by this subvariate, did not experience a disproportionate increase in hospitalizations compared to other regions.
XBB.1.5 is related to the Omicron variant XBB, which has been detected in at least 35 countries and is of clinical severity in Singapore and India according to World Health Organization data.
Covid-19 is an infectious respiratory disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which was identified three years ago in China and has spread rapidly around the world, assuming multiple variants and sub-variants, some more infectious than others.
The disease has been an international public health emergency since January 30, 2020, and a pandemic since March 11, 2020.
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