New COVID variants are driving a rise in infections, especially in the northeast over the past few weeks. In the US, nationwide Covid wastewater levels, used to measure the community spread of a virus, are 'moderate,' according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but Nevada, Utah, Delaware, and Connecticut are all recording 'very high' levels, The Daily Mail reported.

The strains are XFB, dubbed Stratus, and NB.1.8.1, known as Nimbus. Cases are escalating in nine U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Vermont, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, according to the CDC, as reported by Newsweek’s Suzanne Blake this week. Those who are unvaccinated or have never contracted COVID-19 may be particularly vulnerable, Blake wrote.

According to the CDC, the XFG variant accounted for approximately 78 percent of cases in the U.S., Chelsea Madden reported for The Telegraph. Two months prior, it had made up only 14 percent of cases,

The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that XFG made up 68 percent of all submitted sequences in the week ending September 7, which, the organization noted, was an increase from 61 percent in the week ending August 10.