The agency also said the subvariant was detected in a U.S. The CDC suggested that BA.2.86 is likely more prevalent than reported, pointing to the fact that it’s been detected in five countries, indicating international transmission.
But the agency says it’s too soon to say for sure whether it is more contagious or causes more severe disease than other strains. It may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or been vaccinated, the CDC said. but is notable, health officials say, because it has multiple genetic differences from previous versions of COVID-19. In addition, the CDC issued a risk assessment summary Wednesday for the subvariant BA.2.86, which only has been identified in a handful of cases worldwide - two in the U.S. Eris is a descendant of the omicron subvariant XBB.1.9.2. The WHO, however, said earlier this month the public health risk posed by EG.5 is “low at the global level” and that there is no evidence it causes more severe disease than earlier strains. The subvariant FL.1.5.1, informally dubbed “Fornax,” accounts for 13.3% of cases, nearly double from two weeks earlier.īoth EG.5 and FL.1.5.1 have mutations that may help them spread more rapidly. and was also designated a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization.Īs of last week, Eris accounted for more than a fifth of all new COVID-19 cases in the country, according to the CDC. Health officials are closely monitoring three variants.Įarlier this month, the EG.5 subvariant, also known as Eris, became the dominant COVID-19 strain in the U.S. And the number of deaths from the virus last week - 251 - was at the lowest point since the pandemic started in March 2020. For example, at this time last year, there were more than 41,000 COVID hospitalizations. Per capita, COVID hospitalizations are highest in Delaware, North Carolina, Missouri, Florida and Hawaii, while Massachusetts, Vermont and Kentucky have seen the largest spikes over the past two weeks, according to The New York Times’ tracker.īut the numbers are still far below what they once were. There were nearly 13,000 people nationally hospitalized with COVID-19 last week, a number that has doubled since late June, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile in Kentucky, the Lee County School District canceled classes Tuesday and Wednesday and shifted to remote learning Thursday and Friday, citing a wave of students and staff members being ill with COVID, strep throat, the flu or other illnesses. In Atlanta, Morris Brown College announced a two-week mask requirement as well as a ban on large gatherings.Īnd some hospitals have also begun to require face coverings again, including at Kaiser Permanente in California and two Upstate Medical University facilities in Syracuse, New York. Hollywood studio Lionsgate has implemented a mask mandate on certain floors of its Santa Monica, California, offices after several employees tested positive for the virus, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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