In the last week, the highly infectious strain has spread throughout the United States, accounting for four out of every ten cases. According to the Mail Online, it is a variant of Omicron that can infect people even if they have received the Covid vaccine. While many public health experts are concerned about the rising number of COVID cases in China, infectious disease experts are increasingly concerned about the XBB.1.5 variant. One in every 25 cases of Covid in the UK is now thought to be caused by the XBB. “Ironically, the worst variant that the world is currently facing is actually XBB,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota. Osterholm added that seven of the ten U.S. states where cases and hospitalisations are increasing are in the Northeast, which is also experiencing an increase in XBB cases. Experts in infectious disease have become increasingly concerned about the XBB.1.5 variant. Recombinants of the BA.2 variant, XBB and XBB.1.5, accounted for 44.1% of all cases in the country during the last week of December. XBB.1.5 accounted for 21.7 percent of all cases. Experts believe the new strain does not cause more severe illness. The chairman of the Commons Health and Social Care Committee defended the Government’s decision to require Chinese visitors to produce a negative Covid test before flying to the UK earlier this week. The announcement on Friday brings the UK in line with a growing number of countries imposing new controls as Beijing reopens its borders, including the US, Italy, India, and Japan. According to some scientists, such measures are unlikely to prevent new variants from entering the UK.
