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Update on Covid new variant from top US scientist: ‘Transmissible, evasive'
Coronavirus In US: Eric Feigl-Ding also said the XBB.1.5 variant of coronavirus has its root in the northeast region of the US.
The new variant of coronavirus is transmitting at a very fast pace in the world, a top US scientist said. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and health economist said that the US health agency- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)- continued to ignore threats of the new variant despite it being responsible for high rate of hospitalisation in the country.
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Eric Feigl-Ding also said the XBB.1.5 variant of coronavirus has its root in the northeast region of the US, but the CDC has "cowardly" refused to admit it.
"CDC knew XBB.1.5 was significantly greater than 1% and surging for weeks. they did absolutely nothing to warn the public," Eric Feigl-Ding wrote on Twitter, adding, that four US states where XBB.1.5 is the dominant variant are witnessing a surge in hospitalisation rate.
The new variant is, "one of the most evasive variants against immunity (high escape) and fusion with human cells (high ACE2 binding)—a worst of both worlds", he said, asserting that the XBB.1.5 Covid variant has higher human cell ACE2 binding which leads to much higher cell infectivity.
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The top scientist also said that XBB.1.5 is a super variant because, "among most immunity-evasive ‘escape variants’ to date; One of the best variants for invading human cells via ACE2; spreads much faster than old XBB or BQ, and causes hospitalisations wherever dominant".
"NEXT BIG ONE—CDC has royally screwed up—unreleased data shows #XBB15, a super variant, surged to 40% US (CDC unreported for weeks!) & now causing hospitalization surges in the northeast. XBB15–a new recombinant strain—is both more immune evasive & better at infecting than BQ and XBB," he wrote.
In US, XBB.1.5 accounts for majority of Covid cases in the northeast region and is also contributing to 75% of cases in New England and the New York tri-state area, CDC informed.
