The new COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, which was linked to a large surge of hospitalizations in parts of Asia, could now make up more than 1 in 3 cases across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention projected this week.
Last month, the CDC’s airport surveillance program had detected cases of the variant in arriving international travelers from several countries. The agency now says that nearly half of the COVID infections detected in that program the last week of May were the NB.1.8.1 variant.
The CDC cautioned that “precision in the most recent reporting period is low” for their estimates, meaning the projections carry a wide margin of error. Still, the estimated increase in prevalence in the U.S. highlights the variant’s high transmissibility — something experts had warned about as soon as it began spreading in this country.
Wait, there’s still covid in USA?
Its fucking everywhere its like the flu. Their is no getting rid of it. Its just gonna keep happening forever
There
Also, not american. Where I live nobody talks about it anymore. I just read there were 1000 cases in the last month or 0,002% of the country population.
Yeah its just one of those things that gives u runny nose for a day or 2 occasionally.
Wait, there was covid in the USA?
“Data indicates that NB.1.8.1 does not lead to more severe illness compared to previous variants, although it appears to have a growth advantage, suggesting it may spread more easily. In other words, it is more transmissible,” Subhash Verma,
A bit of a silver lining that it’s not more dangerous… I guess.
Same severity, plus spreads faster means more people will be affected. More people being affected means the range of effects from mild to severe to fatal will happen more, this includes postviral syndromes, e.g. Long Covid, cognitive deficits, increased cardiovascular risk, etc. Especially dangerous given that most people think it’s ‘just a flu’, and everyone wants to pretend that it’s over and gone.
Just a flu means, 27K-130K deaths, 610K-1.3M hospitalizations, and 47M-82M illnesses, according to preliminary estimates from the CDC.
And with the help of the anti-vax crowd attacking vaccines I think stuff like this is going to be a problem for a long time.
Wash hands, wear mask, and get vax’d if I can. That’s my plan.
I try to add “Avoid people” whenever I’m able to on that list. (I live in a conservative area.)
