A new Covid variant that was first detected last year has quickly become the dominant strain in the US – and picked up a creepy moniker along the way. Nicknamed the “kraken variant” by some, it surged through the nation and has now been identified in at least 28 other countries, according to the World Health Organization. Is it more dangerous? Does it spread more easily? And how will it affect China’s Covid outbreak?
XBB.1.5 is a descendant of the omicron XBB subvariant – which is itself a cross between two earlier strains: BA.2.75 and BA.2.10.1. The original XBB variant has already caused waves of infection in countries including Singapore and India since the WHO first raised concern about it last October.