By Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter(HealthDay)TUESDAY, Nov. 28, 2023 (Healthday News) -- The prevalence of a highly mutated COVID variant has tripled in the past two weeks, new government data shows.
Now, nearly 1 in 10 new COVID cases are fueled by the BA.2.86 variant, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Monday.
Scientists first warned of the highly mutated variant back in August, but it has since spread in several regions of the United States.
The CDC also noted that BA.2.86 variant poses a "low" public health risk.
But the CDC data released Monday did show that emergency department visits linked to COVID-19 have begun to climb nationwide.
Persons:
Robin Foster HealthDay, Jasmine Reed
Organizations:
U.S . Centers for Disease Control, EG, WHO, CDC, CBS News, JN
Locations:
New York, New Jersey, United States, U.S