Recent data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that a COVID-19 variant that has been circulating since 2024 is currently the dominant variant in the United States.
The LP.8.1 COVID-19 variant, an offshoot of the Omicron strain, was first detected in June 2024, health officials have said. It makes up 73 percent of all cases detected in the country, according to an estimate issued on the CDC’s website, which was updated as of June 1. The XFC variant is the second most prevalent, at 10 percent of cases, and the XEC variant is third, at 4 percent.
