COVID-19 XBB variant: What to know

COVID-19 cases continue to pop up in the Northeastern US as the XBB subvariant becomes the most common source of illness. 

XBB, a subvariant of omicron, was responsible for 52.6% of cases in New England from Dec. 18 to Dec. 24, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is up from 34.3% of cases the week prior, and 20% the week before that. 

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that XBB does not “diverge sufficiently” from the overall omicron phenotype to warrant its own designation.

“Based on currently available evidence, the TAG-VE does not feel that the overall phenotype of XBB* and BQ.1* diverge sufficiently from each other, or from other Omicron lineages with additional immune escape mutations, in terms of the necessary public health response, to warrant the designation of new variants of concern and assignment of a new label,” the WHO wrote in an October 2022 report.

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The organization added, “The two sublineages remain part of Omicron, which continues to be a variant of concern.”

President Biden had said during a television interview ahead of the midterm elections that the COVID-19 pandemic “is over.”

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“Is the pandemic over?” a reporter asked Biden. “The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it,” Biden responded.

In October, the US government lengthened the public health emergency status for the COVID-19 pandemic despite Biden’s remarks.

The move extends the order through Jan. 11, 2023, as health officials warn once more of a winter surge. 

Fox News’ Julia Musto and Adam Sabes contributed to this report.