The highly transmissible omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 now accounts for about three-fourths of all COVID-19 cases reported nationwide, according to the CDC's COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Feb. 10.
As of Feb. 11, XBB.1.5 accounted for 74.7 percent of U.S. cases, up from 65.9 percent the week prior. BQ.1.1 remains the second most prevalent strain at 15.3 percent.
The CDC first started tracking XBB.1.5 separately from its parent strain XBB the week of Dec. 31, estimating it accounted for about 4 percent of cases nationwide. Though its prevalence has steadily risen since then, the U.S. has not experienced a major winter surge.
Five more updates:
Cases
1. As of Feb. 8, the nation's seven-day case average was 40,404, a 1 percent decrease from the previous week's average. This rate of decrease has slowed in the last two weeks. The CDC's last weekly report published Feb. 3 reported a 6.7 percent drop in cases.
Hospitalizations
2. The seven-day hospitalization average for Feb. 1-7 was 3,665, a 6.2 percent decrease from the previous week's average. This figure is down from an 8.4 percent drop in cases seen a week prior.
Deaths
3. The current seven-day death average is 453, down 9.7 percent from the previous week's average. Some historical deaths have been excluded from these counts, the CDC said.
Wastewater surveillance
4. About 65 percent of U.S. testing sites are reporting moderate to high virus levels in wastewater, up from 62 percent a week prior.
5. About 49 percent of sites are reporting an increase in virus levels, and 41 percent of sites are seeing a decrease.