The subvariant XBB.1.5 is spreading quickly in the US. It made up 35.5 per cent of the total cases in the week ending January 7, rising to 37.2 per cent in the week ending January 14, according to the CDC on Friday.XBB.
today the biden administration renewed the covid-19 public health emergency. why is that necessary? joining us now is white house coronavirus coordinator dr. jha. doctor, thank you for being here. is this because the new subvariant is so transmissible? it was a determination by the secretary of hhs. there s still a lot of covid out there and the public health emergency gives us tools to fight this. the secretary made a decision that the tools are still necessary to continue to fight this virus. dr. jha, i want to ask about new information that cnn has learned about the omicron booster that so many of us were encouraged by even you to get back in the fall because it sound like new information has come to light that moderna, the
yeah, and i think that s our problem right there. and hopefully the president will come down and see with his own eyes. i m not sure what he s going to do. i m not too hopeful, but let s wait and see and maybe something goodwill come out of it. i don t think so, but let s wait and see and hope for the best. are you going to be there, chris, when the president arrives? you know, i don t think so. they haven t told me anything about it. it s a good 10, 12-hour ride for me. i ll go if happened, but better off staying home. thank you. news in this country are getting a whole lot of attention nothing to do with the border or fights on capitol hill, but everything to do with covid cases that are spiking, particularly, by a subvariant right now that s getting a whole lot of attention. it s way over my head and i didn t understand it, but as soon as i heard covid cases spiking, i thought of getting
infections according to new cdc estimates. epidemiologists say it s more transmissible than previous versions of the virus but does not necessarily cause more severe disease. right now as we re looking at preliminary data, you don t see a disproportionate rise of hospitalizations and death associated with this particular subvariant which is good news. research says americans are better prepared for post holiday surge than last winter because there is more immunity from natural and boosters. experts say they continue to do what s most important. early laboratory studies would indicate that prevention against severe disease is still pretty good. researches believe xbb 1.5 originated in the u.s. but they are also worried about the potential for new mutations in china, which is experiencing a surge in cases as it ends lockdowns. it s the question of having so much transmission in china
again, i want to emphasize, people who have gotten the updated booster, all of the evident so far suggests they re protected against this xbb 15. and i was think being this in the context of what we re seeing across the world. when you look at the explosion of cases in china and also now what you re seeing, this subvariant in the united states, do you think we re looking for the measures to be reinstated again like mask requirements? where is your thinking on that. china have a unique case because obviously they had the zero covid policy that they have just turned completely 180 and that is what is driving that. when i look at things globally here is what i see. i see a lot of immunity. i see when people get vaccinated, we have access to treatments, all of that is keeping serious illness low,