India, May 28 -- A new, highly infectious strain ofCovid-19 has been detected in the United States, including in New York City, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed. The newNB.1.81 variant led to a spike in hospitalizations in China before being detected in the US.

The new variant was first found in the US in late March and early April. It was detected among international travelers who arrived at airports in California, Washington State, Virginia and New York City. Some cases were also found in Ohio, Rhode Island and Hawaii.

According to theCDC, there are not many cases in the US yet and thus they cannot be properly tracked in the agency's variant estimates. However, experts have warned that the virus' run in Chi...