A new, highly infectious COVID-19 strain that has left to a spike in hospitalizations in China has now been detected in the US, including cases in New York City, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new NB.1.81 variant was first detected in the US in late March and early April among international travelers arriving at airports in California, Washington State, Virginia and New York City, with additional cases reported in Ohio, Rhode Island and Hawaii.
The CDC has said there are too few cases in the US to be properly tracked in the agency’s variant estimates, but experts are warning that the virus’ run in China shows it spreads more quickly than other dominant strains of the respiratory infection.
Experts have been closely tracking the NB.1.8.1 variant after it became the dominant strain in China this year, with cases surging all across Asia.
Hong Kong authorities say COVID-19 cases have spiked to the worst levels in at least a year after officials announced a “significant increase” in emergency room visits and hospitalizations in the last month due to the variant.
That included 81 severe cases in the past four weeks, including 30 deaths. The vast majority of the cases were in adults 65 and up.
In mainland China, the portion of patients going to the ER with COVID has more than doubled in the last month — from 7.5% to more than 16%, public health authorities said. The portion of people in the hospital for COVID in China also doubled, to more than 6%, according to the state-run China Daily.
Despite the stats, the Beijing-controlled government in Hong Kong downplayed the variant, saying it does not appear to be more dangerous than previous variants.
“What they’re seeing in China, Hong Kong and some other areas where this variant has really surged, is an increase in hospitalization,” Dr. Amy Edwards, a professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University’s medical school, told CBS News.
The CDC’s airport tests revealed the extent of the virus’ spread as the travelers who were infected with the variant traveled through China, Japan, South Korea, France, Thailand, the Netherlands, Spain, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Like other forms of COVID-19, the variant can cause coughing, a sore throat, fever and fatigue.
Subhash Verma, a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Nevada, however, noted that the new variant “appears to have a growth advantage, suggesting it may spread more easily.”
“In other words, it is more transmissible,” she told CBS news.
Both Verma and Edwards said that the strain does not appear to be more severe — at least so far.
Dr. Edwin Tsui, the head of Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection (CHP), said that the new variant “should not be taken lightly,” warning Chinese health officials and others around the world that evidence suggests the virus may have evolved to even further evade the protections of the COVID vaccines.
“The CHP will continue to closely monitor the situation of the variant strains in accordance with the World Health Organization’s recommendation, and be cautious of the possible emergence of more virulent or vaccine-mismatched strains of the virus in the future,” he said in a statement.
The warning comes as the Trump administration announced a plan to limit the annual booster vaccines to seniors and other high-risk groups.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that it will no longer recommend that healthy children and pregnant women receive the COVID-19 jab.
