Latest COVID variant dominating northeast "very contagious," doctor says
NEW YORK -- Nearly three years into the COVID pandemic, cases are once again ticking up across the area.
A new variant is quickly becoming the dominant strain in the northeast.
- Related Story: Doctors: New Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 responsible for 75% of new COVID cases in Northeast
Dr. Daniel Varga, chief physician at Hackensack Meridian Health in New Jersey, told CBS2 the variant is highly contagious but people aren't being hospitalized as much as with other strains.
"It's a very contagious virus, so it's easy to catch. The good news is when we look at severity and acuity across the state, it's kind of like the other Omicron variants," he said. "I mean, you can get sick, but it's not causing nearly the amount of hospitalization that we saw with Delta a year and a half, two years ago. Not nearly the amount of ICU."
We also asked him how the current vaccines protect against this variant and what precautions he thinks people should take.
Watch his full interview above for more information.
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