(New York Post) Happy New Year!
A new Omicron variant is rapidly spreading in the US just in time to ring in 2023, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The strain, known XBB.1.5, accounts for about 41% of confirmed COVID cases across the nation, the data shows.
The mutation has gained considerable traction over the past week, the CDC noted — jumping from just 21% seven days ago.
It was first reported in mid-November and has now overtaken the BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 variants, which dominated cases in the fall.
XBB.1.5, a relative of the XBB strain, has mainly been reported in the northeastern section of the US, the health agency said.
Over 70% of COVID cases in New York through Maine are now XBB.1.5.
The strengthening variant could pose a problem amid the busy holiday travel season, experts have warned.
Variant XBB.1.5 accounts for about 41% of confirmed COVID cases across the nation.
“We’re projecting that it’s going to be the dominant variant in the Northeast region of the country and that it’s going to increase in all regions of the country,” Dr. Barbara Mahon, director of the CDC’s proposed Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division, told CBS News.
Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at Johns Hopkins University, said XBB.1.5 appears to be highly immune evasive because it has an additional mutation that makes it bind better to cells.
“The virus needs to bind tightly to cells to be more efficient at getting in and that could help the virus be a little bit more efficient at infecting people,” Pekosz told CNBC.
Over 70% of COVID cases in New York through Maine are now XBB.1.5.Getty Images
