From Folha de S.Paulo · · 1m
Covid cases rise in Brazil as XFG variant spreads
Brazil reports rising Covid cases driven by the XFG variant, an Omicron subvariant first identified in 2025 that spreads more easily but does not cause more severe illness.
In brief
Brazil reports rising Covid cases driven by the XFG variant, an Omicron subvariant first identified in 2025 that spreads more easily but does not cause more severe illness. Covid cases are rising in Brazil as the XFG variant becomes dominant, though deaths remain well below last year's levels and the disease stays…
XFG variant now dominant in Brazil
Brazil's Health Ministry reports one hundred eighteen thousand eight hundred fifty-one Covid cases through October thirty-first, twenty twenty-six.
More transmissible but not more severe
The XFG variant has greater transmission potential than earlier strains.There is no evidence it causes more severe illness.Symptoms include sore throat, nasal congestion, hoarseness and low-grade fever or a feeling of feverishness.
Deaths far below last year's toll
Of the cases reported through October thirty-first, three thousand four hundred seventy-nine developed into severe cases and four hundred thirty-seven people died.
What it means
Covid cases are rising in Brazil as the XFG variant becomes dominant, though deaths remain well below last year's levels and the disease stays classified as low risk.
