‘Stratus’ variant in US: Map shows rising Covid cases as national test positivity rate increases

A map has revealed how Covid-19 cases are rising nationwide, fueled by the Stratus variant, which is an emerging offshoot of the Omicron variant.

A map has revealed how Covid-19 cases are rising nationwide, fueled by the Stratus variant, which is an emerging offshoot of the Omicron variant. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that the national test positivity rate hit 9.9 percent in the past week. This was up 1.4 percent from last week.

‘Stratus’ variant in US: Map shows rising Covid cases as national test positivity rate increases (Unsplash - representational image)

The U.S. South has had the sharpest rises, according to CDC data. There, test positivity rates in some states have hit 15 percent. "Currently, the most prevalent lineage in the U.S. is XFG, based on CDC's recent surveillance estimates," a CDC spokesperson told Newsweek.

This variant is reportedly most common in clinical specimens and wastewater data.

The Stratus variant

The Covid-19 Stratus variant, also known as ‘XFG,’ is a subvariant of Omicron. It may have emerged through recombination of earlier Omicron lineages, researchers believe. This gives it mutations that make it spread faster. The World Health Organization (WHO) lists Stratus as a "variant under monitoring," which means that while it is circulating widely, it is not causing more severe illness.

CDC states that the symptoms to watch out for are

• Congestion, cough, fatigue, headache and mild fever
• New loss of taste or smell
• Muscle, head and body aches
• Cough and sore throat

According to some reports, Stratus can be linked to a severe sore throat, sometimes called "razor blade throat." Scott Roberts, assistant professor of infectious diseases at Yale School of Medicine, told Newsweek that this must not be overstated. "I've not seen any data to suggest there's different symptoms with this Stratus variant compared to prior,” Roberts said. "There's certainly anecdotes out there and I think the one, the razor blade throat, is kind of the concerning one I've heard for Nimbus variant."

"It's unclear to me why this variant would lead to a more severe sore throat than other variants. My best guess is this is an anecdote that kind of spread because it's a catchy name,” Roberts added.

"There is no data to indicate that XFG causes more severe COVID-19," the CDC said. "CDC is not aware of any new symptoms associated with XFG or any other co-circulating SARS-CoV-2 lineage. CDC will continue to track all SARS-CoV-2 variants.”