A new Covid variant behind a surge of hospitalizations in China has been detected in the US.
Latest CDC data shows the new NB.1.8.1 strain has been detected among international travelers arriving in California, Washington state, Virginia and New York City.
The patients came from nine countries — China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, France, the Netherlands and Spain — between April 22 and May 12.
Currently, there is international alarm over the new variant, which is potentially more infectious than previous Covid variants.
In China, official data claims that the proportion of severely ill respiratory patients with Covid has jumped from 3.3 to 6.3 percent over the last month, while the proportion of ER patients testing positive for Covid had jumped from 7.5 to 16.2 percent.
Officials in Taiwan, which is facing an outbreak, are reporting a surge in emergency room admissions, with the number rising 78 percent in a week over the seven-days to May 3, according to the latest data available.
And there are more hospitalizations being reported in Hong Kong, where officials are telling people to mask up, with the number of admissions reaching a 12-month high of 31 people.
Thailand and Singapore have also recorded cases of the variant.
The variant has been circulating in the US since late March, it appears, when cases were first detected in Ohio, Rhode Island and Hawaii. There is no sign at present of widespread transmission of the new variant in the country.
The above is an image of a crowded hospital in China that was posted in January 2025. It is related to an outbreak of a mysterious virus in the country, and not the current uptick in Covid cases being reported there
The above image is also from the mystery outbreak that gripped China back in January 2025
In the US, there is no sign of a major uptick in cases at present — with the positivity rate of swabs detecting the virus falling 12 percent in the latest week data is available.
The data showing arriving cases of the strain in the US was revealed by the CDC’s airport testing partner Ginkgo Bioworks and reported by CBS News.
In this program, travelers at select airports can volunteer to self-collect two nasal swab samples and complete a short survey.
These swabs are then tested for a range of diseases of concern, including Covid.
The travelers behind the cases of the new variant were tested between April 22 and May 12.
Experts are closely watching the new variant, which is already dominant in China and is on the rise in parts of Asia.
In Taiwan, there were 19,097 visits for Covid last week, the latest available — and the NB.1.8.1 variant has become dominant in the country.
Early research from China suggests the NB.1.8.1 variant is not better at evading the immune system — but it may be better at binding to cells, making it more infectious.
There is concern over a new variant of Covid, called NB.1.8.1
Cases have been detected in the US, but they are few – with the positivity rate for the virus falling. This graph shows overall Covid cases by test positivity rate – or the proportion of swabs that detect the virus
In a notice from Hong Kong released last week, officials again urged people to wear face masks in public places if they were at high risk from an infection.
And they urged the public to wear a face mask when traveling on public transportation or staying in crowded areas.
The FDA held a meeting Thursday on whether to update the Covid vaccines, where the strain came up multiple times.
Currently, the latest vaccines target the JN.1 variant and its descendants. Data currently suggests that the LP.8.1 variant is dominant in the US — which is a descendant of JN.1.
At the meeting, CDC and FDA officials told the panel that only one strain — called XFC — has been significantly growing in the US.
