XBB.1.5 ‘most transmissible’ COVID subvariant detected yet, WHO says – National | Globalnews.ca

A new COVID-19 strain that has been spreading rapidly in the United States is now the “most transmissible subvariant that has been detected yet,” the World Health Organization says.

The new strain, known as XBB.1.5, is a subvariant of Omicron and has been detected in 29 countries to date, the WHO said during a briefing Wednesday.

It is now responsible for approximately 70 per cent of new COVID-19 cases in the Northeastern U.S., which represents a massive growth rate since early December, when it accounted for just four per cent of new U.S. COVID cases, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“We are concerned about its growth advantage in particular in some countries in Europe and in the U.S., in North America, particularly the Northeast part of the United States, where XBB.1.5 has rapidly replaced other circulating variants,” said Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for COVID-19, on Wednesday.

“Our concern is how transmissible it is, … and the more this virus circulates, the more opportunities it will have to change.”

The Public Health Agency of Canada told Global News it’s “too early to tell” if the XBB.1.5 variant is growing in Canada, but scientists continue to monitor cases in the country and are tracking developments internationally.

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