LINCOLN- As in past weeks, the number of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations has remained low and declined slightly nationwide, but health officials all over the country are still urging citizens to get booster shots. During the week of January 11th, Nebraska saw around 1,486 reported cases of the virus, fairly close to the 1,420 cases reported a week before. This is down significantly from the peak of cases seen in early December, when around 3,600 cases were reported.

A new subvariant of the coronavirus, called XBB.1.5, has become dominant on the East Coast, but has only slightly affected Nebraska. Last week, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, only around 9% of positive samples were caused by the XBB.1.5 variant. However, nationwide, XBB.1.5 made up around 43% of positive cases, and 80% of cases in the Northeast.

Amid concerns about what health issues the new variant may cause, health officials from around the country have urged people to get up to date on vaccinations and boosters. A recent study from the CDC, which was published in December, suggested that people over 65 who have updated boosters are 85% less likely to be hospitalized by the new variant.

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