This scanning electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (yellow)—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19—isolated from a patient in the U.S., emerging from the surface of cells (blue/pink) cultured in the lab.

The XEC COVID variant spread rapidly in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands over the summer, and it has now been reported in New York, California, and some other U.S. states. Bu

There’s a new coronavirus subvariant catching the attention of global doctors and researchers: it’s being called “XEC.” Experts suspect this new strain of the coronavirus could become the dominant variant in a matter of months.