Omicron offshoot XBB.1.5 could drive new Covid-19 surge in US

New omicron variant XBB.1.5 emerges, driving a surge in northeast U.S.

An illustration for the omicron variant.Alex Cochran, Deseret News COVID-19 variants continue to circulate and mutate. Last month, scientists and experts saw omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1. gain dominance among reported coronavirus cases in the United States. Inflection levels have remained below what was seen during the overwhelming wave of January 2022, a time when weekly cases reached over 4 million. But on Friday, the Centers for Disea…

New Omicron offshoot XBB.1.5 could drive new COVID-19 surge in US

The updated boosters should provide some protection, even against this highly immune-evasive strain, experts say.

Omicron offshoot XBB.1.5 could drive new COVID-19 surge in US

By Brenda Goodman, CNN For weeks, scientists have been watching a slew of Omicron descendants duke it out for dominance of COVID-19 transmission in the United States, with the BQs — BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 — seeming to edge out all the others to claim a slight lead. The result has been a gradual rise in cases and hospitalizations that never seemed to reach the peaks of this summer’s BA.5 wave and was certainly nothing like the tsunami of illness caused …

Could new Omicron variant XBB.1.5 fuel further Covid infections?

The offshoot accounts for 40% of Covid cases in the US, raising fears of fresh waves of illness as it spreads to other countries

Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5: North Texas doctors closely watching new COVID-19 variant

According to data from the CDC, the XBB.1.5 strain accounts right now for almost 41% of confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide. Cases of the new variant have jumped by double digits since Christmas Eve.

New Omicron offshoot XBB.1.5 could drive new Covid-19 surge in US

Coming out of the holidays, during which time people were more likely to travel and socialize, gives any infection more room to run.