New COVID variation XBB.1.5 is spreading, according to US data
While the year 2023 has brought with it renewed optimism and hope, recent data from the CDC suggest that a new variety of COVID is spreading rapidly across the United States.
The new coronavirus strain, which has been given the name variation XBB.1.5, is responsible for about 41% of documented cases in the United States.
The CDC provides these numbers as an informative resource.
The holiday season provides the ideal environment for the transmission of the latest mutation, as family travel and meet together.
When first detected in the middle of November, the XBB.1.5 variety lagged behind the BQ 1 and BQ 1.1 variants that had emerged as the dominant strains after the summer.
The fact that COVID-19 can still evolve despite its weakness is a major cause for concern among scientists.
According to the New York Post, the XBB.1.5 subtype is most prevalent in the northeastern United States.
It is now believed that XBB.1.5 accounts for almost 70% of COVID instances in New York.
Johns Hopkins University virologist Andrew Pekosz told CNBC, “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,”
There is currently no evidence that the XBB.1.5 variety of the coronavirus is more dangerous or harmful than any other strain ever seen.
The public shouldn’t worry about the appearance of this new strain of the virus; instead, they should keep up with their regular hygiene practises and other established defences against COVID.