According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the prevalence of the fast-spreading COVID-19 variation has significantly increased, with JN.1, the novel variant, accounting for 44.1% of cases in the US.
According to CBS News, which cited CDC data, the rise in JN.1 infections is more than twice as high as the 21.3% projection for the week ending December 9, which was after Thanksgiving.
The Northeast region, which includes New Jersey and New York, is thought to have the highest prevalence of the strain among other locations, accounting for 56.9% of cases.
“JN.1’s sustained expansion implies that the variant is either more immune system-evading or more transmissible than other circulating variants.
The World Health Organization (WHO) upgraded the strain to “variant of interest,” its second-highest category, in response to an increase in JN.1 prevalence in other nations. The updated estimates come after this surge.
Compared to earlier strains, the new variation has not been documented to induce severe symptoms.
But health officials are concerned about its unusual accumulation of mutations, which are mostly inherited from its severely altered parent, BA.2.86.
Despite infecting people in numerous countries, the BA.2.86 strain was unable to spread globally. However, the new mutations in JN.1 have changed the virus’s trajectory, raising worries about its possible greater transmissibility.
The CDC’s “Nowcast” model, which projects more recent proportions of COVID-19 cases, indicates that the JN.1 variety, which was first detected in the US in September, is now the COVID-19 case with the quickest rate of growth.
