FILE PHOTO: Test tube labelled “COVID-19 Omicron variant test positive” is seen in this illustration picture taken January 15, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
The fast-spreading Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 accounted for nearly half of the COVID-19 cases in the United States, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed on Friday.
It is estimated to have accounted for 49.1% of COVID cases in the country in the week ended Jan. 21, compared with 37.2% estimated last week.
XBB.1.5 is currently the most transmissible variant. It is an offshoot of XBB, a combination of two other Omicron sub-variants, which was first detected in October.
WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted a few weeks ago that XBB.1.5 has been on the rise globally and identified in over 25 countries.
It is unclear if XBB.1.5 can cause its own wave of global infections, but experts say the current booster shots continue to protect against severe symptoms, hospitalization and death.