New variant in US, cases increased in India, crowd of patients in Hong Kong-Taiwan…. Where is Corona wreaking havoc?

New Delhi: Corona virus has knocked once again. 752 new cases of Kovid-19 have been reported in India in the last one week. The total number of positive cases in the country has exceeded 1,000. Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi are the states where the highest number of new cases have been reported in the last one week. Along with this, cases of corona are also being reported abroad.

According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a new Kovid variant, NB.1.8.1, has been found in many international passengers arriving at major US airports. According to a report by CBS News, the Kovid variant is believed to be due to an increase in cases in China and parts of Asia.

New COVID variant NB.1.8.1 found at US airports Cases of the NB.1.8.1 variant have been identified among international travelers arriving at airports in California, Washington state, Virginia, and the New York City area, according to data from Ginkgo Bioworks, the CDC’s airport testing partner.

Health officials in Hong Kong and Taiwan have reported an increase in hospitalizations and emergency room visits, prompting efforts to enforce public mask wearing and stockpiles of vaccines and antiviral drugs.

New COVID variant in the US
As of May 2025, a new COVID-19 variant called NB.1.8.1, which comes from the Omicron sublineage JN.1, has been identified as a contributing factor to recent increases in COVID-19 cases across Asia and has also been found in the US. The variant was first reported in China, quickly becoming the dominant strain. Its presence has also been confirmed in other parts of Asia, including Singapore and Hong Kong.

The World Health Organization has designated NB.1.8.1 as a SARS-CoV-2 Variant Under Monitoring due to its increasing global spread. This variant is derived from the recombinant variant XDV.1.5.1, whose first sample was collected on January 22, 2025. It was officially classified as VUM on May 23, 2025.

Deaths in the US
According to CDC data, an average of 350 Americans have died every week from coronavirus in the last month. The agency said that the number of casualties is very high, but the infection is decreasing.