Fast-Spreading COVID Variant Accounts for Nearly 90 Percent of Cases, CDC Says

A COVID-19 variant that emerged in the middle part of 2023 now accounts for nearly 90 percent of cases.

This scanning electron microscope image shows the virus that causes COVID-19. US National Institutes of Health

A COVID-19 variant that emerged in the middle part of last year now accounts for about 90 percent of all cases in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

As of Jan. 20, the JN.1 variant specifically makes up about 85 percent of cases, the CDC said in an update. However, there are no signs that the variant causes more severe disease or hospitalizations than prior variants, officials and researchers have signaled.