New COVID variant spreads across US as CDC raises concerns: 'Viral evolution'

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Dr. Mahsa Tehrani unpacks the risk of COVID-19 in children and pregnant women on 'America Reports.' A new variant of COVID-19 is spreading across the U.S., health officials say. At least 23 countries have reported the SARS-CoV-2 BA.3.2 variant as of Feb. 11, according to a study published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The BA.3.2 variant, which the CDC has been tracking through its Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance program, has about 70 to 75 changes in the gene sequence of its spike protein, which is a structure on the surface of the COVID-19 virus that helps it enter human cells. This strain has now been detected in nasal swabs from four U.S. travelers, clinical samples from five patients, three airplane wastewater samples, and 132 wastewater surveillance samples from 25 states, according to the CDC’s Morbidity and M