[1/2] In this illustrative image, taken on January 15, 2022, you can see the test tube labeled “COVID-19 Omicron variant test positive”. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Dec 23 (Reuters) – Omicron’s highly contagious XBB subvariant has risen to more than 50 percent of COVID-19 cases in the northeastern United States and is likely to spread rapidly as millions of Americans start traveling for the holidays on Friday.
In the week ending Dec. 24, XBB was estimated to account for 18.3 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United States, up from 11.2 percent the week prior, according to the U.S. Centers for Prevention and Control. of Friday’s Diseases (CDC). ).
The subvariant is currently dominant in the Northeast but accounts for less than 10% of infections in many other parts of the country, the CDC said.
Andrew Pekosz, a virologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said holiday travel to the United States could accelerate the spread of the XBB subvariant across the country.
The American Automobile Association (AAA) estimated that 112.7 million people planned to travel 50 miles (80 km) or more from home between Friday and Jan. 2, an increase of 3.6 million travelers over to last year and approaching pre-pandemic numbers.
But that number was likely dwarfed by the treacherous weather that complicated weekend road and air travel.
“Every time a new variant moves to a different geographic area, it runs the risk of generating some sort of mini-epidemic in that area,” Pekosz said.
However, Pekosz said he doesn’t see the XBB subvariant driving the kind of massive surges seen by the original Omicron variant last winter.
Top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci said in November that the updated COVID-19 booster shots — which target the original coronavirus variant and subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 — would still deliver” some protection, but not optimal protection” against the XBB variant.
XBB is a subvariant of the BA.2 variant.
The early BA.5 lineage now accounts for only a small fraction of cases, having been superseded by its offshoots, BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, which still remain the dominant variants in the US, albeit in decline.
The new variant’s case surge comes a week after the White House’s COVID response coordinator urged Americans to get their flu shots and COVID-19 boosters updated, indicating an increase in cases in about 90% of the country before the end of the year holidays.
The XBB variant has increased cases in parts of Asia, including Singapore. While some experts have said it’s more transmissible, it hasn’t resulted in an increase in hospitalizations.
BQ.1.1 and BQ.1 are expected to account for 63.1% of cases in the United States, up from 64.6% a week ago, the CDC said.
Reporting by Khushi Mandowara in Bangalore and Michael Erman in New Jersey; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta, Shinjini Ganguli and Deepa Babington
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