Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
December 20, 2023 – COVID-19 cases will likely increase over December as a new COVID-19 variant, JN.1, is being monitored by the US Centers for Disease Control.
JN.1 was first detected in September 2023 and the agency says the variant is moving quickly through the United States. At the end of October, it made up less than 0.1% of SARS-CoV-2 viruses in the country, but by December 08, the variant comprised an estimated 15–29% of cases in the country.
It is now the fastest-growing variant in the United States, the Caribbean’s number one travel partner, and it is expected that cases of JN.1 will continue to rise. The CDC says its growth can be attributed to either faster spread or an ability to better evade our immune systems.
The rapid increase in spread has the CDC now questioning whether we could see an increase in cases into the new year. The possibility arises as the world moves into the thick of flu season during which COVID-19 cases have been known to rise as well.
There is some good news, despite its spread, there’s no evidence yet that JN.1 is making people more seriously ill than the previous variants.
