The Latest Breaking News from Omicron

The heavily mutated omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was first detected in late 2021.

LOS ANGELES — The latest omicron subvariant — perhaps the most infectious yet — has gained a foothold in California, a potentially problematic development given the possibility of a post-holiday spike.

The rise comes as new, ultra-transmissible COVID variant XBB.1.5, known as Kraken, spreads rapidly.

XBB 1.5 is a descendant of the Omicron variant

Countries should consider recommending that passengers wear masks on long-haul flights, given the rapid spread of the latest Omicron subvariant of COVID-19 in the United States, World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Tuesday. In Europe, the XBB.1.5 subvariant was detected in small but growing numbers, WHO/Europe officials said at…

Continued dominance can be explained by its increased capacity to spread between people

In the first real-world test of vaccine boosters specially designed to protect against the omicron variant, Israeli researchers have found that people 65 and over who got an updated jab were 81% less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 than those who did not.

South Africa does not see the need to implement any new COVID-19 restrictions either at home or for arrivals over an infection surge in China and the detection of the first case of Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 locally, its health minister said.

Most common symptoms revealed as UKHSA warns Covid is currently ‘circulating at high levels’