Health commissioner warns X E. C. COVID variant rising nationally; Springfield urges testing and vaccinations

SPRINGFIELD — Springfield Health Commissioner Helen Colton told the Health and Human Services Committee that a new COVID-19 variant labeled "X E. C." is now a dominant strain nationally, and outlined local wastewater, case and hospitalization data while urging continued vaccination and testing.

Colton said the X E. C. variant is highly prevalent across the United States but that Springfield and Hampton County are not seeing the same level of impact yet. She reported local indicators including wastewater readings that have trended upward since Dec. 1 and case counts through Jan. 4, 2025.

"X E. C. is the new variant," Colton said during the committee briefing. She told committee members wastewater surveillance and reported positive tests are both showing increases and that hospitalizations and deaths remain concentrated among residents age 65 and older.

Context and why it matters

Colton presented multiple surveillance measures: dominant-variant data (national and county), wastewater signal, case counts and hospitalizations. She stressed that national dominance of a variant often precedes local increases and that older adults and people with chronic conditions remain the most at-risk groups for severe outcomes. Committee Chair Brian Santonello…