New York, United States

Fresh estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that nearly one in 10 COVID-19 cases in the US are from the BA.2.86 variant.

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As per the CDC's report released on Monday, this is nearly three times the prevalence estimated by the agency just two weeks ago. 

Surging prevalence

As per a CBS news report, BA.2.86's prevalence is largest in America's Northeast, with the strain blamed for about 13.1 per cent of cases in New York and New Jersey region.

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The figures released on Monday mark the first time that the BA.2.86 variant's prevalence has surged enough to be listed as a standalone variant on the CDC's estimates. 

"In previous Nowcast updates, BA.2.86 was too uncommon to be shown separately and was grouped with other BA.2 strains," said the CDC.

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However, as per the agency, its estimates carry wide margins of error around the COVID-19 variant's prevalence. It said that as little as 4.8 per cent or as much as 15.2 per cent of circulating SARS-CoV-2 cases could be from BA.2.86.

"It is important to note that early projections tend to be less reliable, since they depend on examining growth trends of a smaller number of sequences, especially as laboratory-based testing volume for SARS-CoV-2 has decreased substantially over time," said the CDC.

In spite of that, this latest estimate of around 8.8 per cent through November 25 is virtually triple that of the estimates from November 11 — when only about three per cent of new cases were estimated to be BA.2.86.

Previously, the vast majority of coronavirus cases were blamed on the XBB variant and its related sub variants — including the HV.1 and EG.5 variants, which as per the report are currently predominant nationwide.

Variant of interest

Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) also stepped up its classification of BA.2.86 and its descendants to a "variant of interest". This was done after a rise in cases stemming from the strain.

In its November 21 risk evaluation, the WHO said that early data suggested that BA.2.86 variant does not to lead to worse or different symptoms than previous strains. However, it noted a "substantial rise" in recent reports of the variant.

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The CDC as per CBS said that it did not disagree with the WHO's assessment of BA.2.86's likely "low" public health risk, and said that for now the strain "does not appear to be driving increases in infections or hospitalizations in the United States."

Scientists first raised concern about the highly mutated strain's discovery over the summer. 

(With inputs from agencies)