COVID Variant NB.1.8.1 Now Driving 37 Percent of Cases in US, Says CDC

Currently, CDC figures show that COVID-19 activity across the United States is ’very low.’

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, blue/pink, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. NIAID-RML/AP/The Canadian Press

A COVID-19 variant that emerged earlier this year in mainland China is now driving an estimated 37 percent of virus cases in the United States, according to new data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week.

The NB.1.8.1 variant appears to be driving a significant number of COVID-19 cases in China, and instances of the virus were up by 160 percent last month, according to official data from the Chinese regime. Now, U.S. health data show that it is on the rise in the United States.

Between May 25 and June 7 in the United States, the NB.1.8.1 variant was the second most prevalent strain, following the LP.8.1 strain, according to a CDC update on June 13. A previous update issued by the CDC in late May showed that NB.1.8.1 wasn’t being tracked.

A spokesperson for the agency told The Epoch Times last month that at the time, fewer than 20 sequences of the variant had been detected in the United States.

The CDC “is aware of reported cases of COVID-19 NB.1.8.1 in China and is in regular contact with international partners,” the spokesperson had said, adding that as of last month, “it has not met the threshold for inclusion in the COVID Data Tracker dashboard.”

In May, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated NB.1.8.1 as “variant under monitoring” because of its rapid spread throughout several regions, namely in parts of Asia.

Despite the increase in the United States, CDC wastewater data for COVID-19 show that the virus activity is “currently very low” across the country. Four states are currently seeing “moderate” levels of COVID-19, according to CDC figures.

In its latest update, the CDC did not publish data on the regional spread of NB.1.8.1, but sequences released by the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) database show that Nimbus has been detected in at least 14 states, according to a review of June 13 map data published by the organization.

The map shows that the variant has been found in Hawaii, California, Washington state, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts.

In China, Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials are likely attempting to downplay the virus by saying it’s in a downward trend across the country, Tang Jingyuan, a U.S.-based physician and current affairs commentator, told The Epoch Times on June 7.

“The data for June has not been released yet,” he said.

“I think their purpose of saying it is to avoid panic among the public that there will be a larger-scale outbreak this summer.

“This wave of epidemic is still developing, and it is difficult for us to draw the conclusion that this … has already reached its peak.”

Chen Yang, a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner in Zhuzhou city of Hunan Province, told The Epoch Times recently that symptoms of the variant “were relatively serious, including cough, sore throat, and fever,” and that “their symptoms lasted longer than a cold.”

The Epoch Times contacted the CDC for comment on Friday, but the agency did not respond by publication time.