Hawaii Department of Health confirms XE variant detected in Hawaii | UPDATE UPDATE:

The DOH  srn news released this statement Thursday night from State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble about XE:

“DOH’s whole genome sequencing program enables us to rapidly detect and track new variants.

“Detection of XE in Hawaii is possible because of the active surveillance being performed at our State Laboratories Division. It remains to be seen whether we will see expansion of this variant over time.

“There is still a lot to learn about XE. Right now, we are seeing some signals internationally that XE may expand more rapidly than other Omicron strains. srn news

“We have not seen evidence that it causes more severe disease, or that it is more likely to cause breakthrough infections, but these are the key factors we will continue to watch.” srn news

ORIGINAL:

HONOLULU (KITV4) — The Hawaii Department of Health confirmed Thursday that the XE COVID-19 variant has been detected in Hawaii.

The XE variant is a recombinant of the Omicron variant, that was recently identified in parts of the U.K in March. It contains genetic material derived from both the BA.1 and BA.2 strains.

The full report is here.

The World Health Organization says XE is 10% more transmissible than BA.2.