The public health emergency extension occurs amid concern that the nation may face another wave of hospitalizations from the disease this winter.
XBB.1.5 made up 27.6% of sequenced Covid cases nationally for the week ending Jan. 7 compared to 18.3% for the week end Dec. 31.
The WHO does not have any data yet on the severity of XBB.1.5, but there’s no indication it makes people sicker than previous subvariants, top official said.
XBB.1.5 now represents about 41% of new cases nationwide in the U.S., according to CDC data.
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