Doctors issue warning over dangerous new Covid strain in China

 

• READ MORE: Urgent warning over a new Covid variant spreading

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. 

In China, data shows the proportion of severely ill respiratory patients with Covid has jumped from 3.3 to 6.3 percent over the last month.

The proportion of Chinese ER patients testing positive for Covid had jumped from 7.5 to 16.2 percent.

Officials in Taiwan are also reporting a surge in Covid emergency room admissions, with the number rising 78 percent in a week over the seven-days to May 3, according to the latest data available.

And hospitalizations have risen to a 12-month high in Hong Kong, thought to be driven by the new variant. Officials are telling people to mask up as a result.

The variant has been circulating in the US since late March.

But there is no sign of a major uptick in cases at present — with the positivity rate of swabs detecting the virus falling 12 percent in the latest week data is available.

In this program, travelers at select airports can volunteer to self-collect two nasal swab samples and complete a short survey.

These swabs are then tested for a range of diseases of concern, including Covid. 

The travelers behind the cases of the new variant were tested between April 22 and May 12.

Experts are closely watching the new variant, which is already dominant in China and is on the rise in parts of Asia.

In Taiwan, there were 19,097 visits for Covid last week, the latest available — and the NB.1.8.1 variant has become dominant in the country. 

Early research from China suggests the NB.1.8.1 variant is better at binding to human cells, making it more infectious.

In a notice from Hong Kong released last week, officials again urged people to wear face masks in public places if they were at high risk from an infection.

And they urged the public to wear a face mask when traveling on public transportation or staying in crowded areas.

The FDA held a meeting Thursday on whether to update the Covid vaccines, where the strain came up multiple times.

Currently, the latest vaccines target the JN.1 variant and its descendants. Data currently suggests that the LP.8.1 variant is dominant in the US — which is a descendant of JN.1.

At the meeting, CDC and FDA officials told the panel that only one strain — called XFC — has been significantly growing in the US.