These are the symptoms of the new Covid variant that has arrived in Spain and is worrying the World Health Organization

While parts of Spain have been experiencing a wave of coronavirus for a couple of months now, infections in the rest of the world have not stopped increasing either since mid-February 2025. With this in mind, the World Health Organization has warned of a new variant called NB.1.8.1.

Overall, according to data collected by sentinel sites, the coronavirus test positivity rate is now 11%. These levels have not been seen since July 2024. Incidence is on an upward trend, mainly in countries in the Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia and Western Pacific regions.

The number of infections is similar to that recorded this time last year, but experts have not identified any seasonal pattern. However, they have reported changes in transmission. At the beginning of this year, LP.8.1 was the most circulating variant, but its presence has been decreasing over the months.

The new NB.1.8.1 variant has gained prominence. Although its relationship with the increase in viral activity at a global level has not yet been confirmed, as it is being monitored, it has been confirmed that it already accounts for 10.7% of the global sequences reported by mid-May.

Given the impact that the new variant of the coronavirus has had so far, the World Health Organization considers the public health risk to be "low". However, "vaccination remains a key intervention to prevent severe disease and death, especially among at-risk groups".

As far as symptoms are concerned, the reality is that they are not particularly different from other known variants.

According to virology experts, once infection has occurred, the affected person may have symptoms for three to five days.