XBB.1.16, or “arcturus,” was responsible for nearly 12% of new COVID-19 cases this week – up from 7% of infections last week and nearly 5% the week before that, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It’s the second most prominent strain circulating in the U.S., with XBB.1.5 remaining dominant.
The World Health Organization previously called XBB.1.16 “one to watch” though it reports that its global risk assessment is “low” compared to XBB.1.5.
“Taken together, available information does not suggest that XBB.1.16 has additional public health risk relative to XBB.1.5 and the other currently circulating Omicron descendent lineages,” the organization reported. “However, XBB.1.16 may become dominant in some countries and cause a rise in case incidence due to its growth advantage and immune escape characteristics.”
But in the U.S., coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the decline. Deaths from COVID-19 are the lowest they’ve been since the pandemic was declared in March 2020.
The positive trends have led the U.S. to relax almost all coronavirus policies, including ending the COVID-19 national emergency declaration early.
The Biden administration took another step this week to relax coronavirus precautions by easing COVID-19 vaccine rules for international travelers. The CDC on Thursday posted updated travel guidance to its website to reflect that “because some traveler vaccine records might not specify whether recent Moderna or Pfizer doses received were bivalent” the agency will consider anyone with a single dose of the vaccines to meet the vaccination requirement.