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From the Daily Mail: A new Covid variant behind a surge of hospitalizations in China has been detected in the US.
Latest CDC data shows the new NB.1.8.1 strain has been detected among international travelers arriving in California, Washington state, Virginia and New York City.
The patients came from nine countries — China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, France, the Netherlands and Spain — between April 22 and May 12.
The variant has also been detected in Hawaii, Rhode Island and Ohio.
There is some alarm over the new variant which is potentially more infectious than the current dominant strains.
Although the new variant has been circulating in the U.S. since late March, there is reportedly no indication of a serious surge in cases so far.
However, the Daily Mail notes that China, Taiwan and Hong Kong are all seeing a surge in seriously ill cases and hospitalizations over the last month.
READ MORE from the Daily Mail.
Hong Kong is the first country to experience a wave driven by the new NB.1.8.1 variant.
From the Hong Kong surveillance report, wastewater is the most consistent indicator. That indicator is still trending upwards, to the highest level since mid-2023.#COVID19 #HongKong
🧵 pic.twitter.com/xis4O4ZfXF— Mike Honey (@Mike_Honey_) May 19, 2025
In Taiwan, “Weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 surged by 88% last week..
the NB.1.8.1 subvariant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has become the dominant strain spreading domestically..
weekly cases have increased for five consecutive weeks..
four people died.”N.B. (nota bene) not to…
— Hiroshi Yasuda (保田浩志) (@Yash25571056) May 21, 2025
Among NB.1.8.1 sub-lineages, the fastest one is designated PQ.2 today.
PQ.2 is 30% faster than NB.1.8.1 and reached 30% in Hong Kong.
It gains Orf3a:W193R, one of the key residues deciding different functions of Orf3a in SARS-1(R) and SARS-2(W). https://t.co/IclKjB6a5J pic.twitter.com/39XemuudSS
— Xu Zou (@xz_keg) May 20, 2025
The CDC’s airport screening program has detected multiple cases of the new COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, which has been linked to a large surge of the virus in China. https://t.co/IEtDMFXS9j
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 23, 2025
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