TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- More than five years after COVID-19 turned our world upside down, we're still dealing with it. On the brink of flu season, Tampa Bay area hospitals are seeing an increase of cases of COVID-19, fueled by a new variant.

XFG or Stratus is the new strain of COVID. USF College of Public Health professor Jill Roberts said the variant is predictable and is spreading fast.

"Basically, it can stick to your cells better than the other strains and so sometimes COVID comes by and there's not enough to make us sick. But certain strains, it's just boom, we get in contact, we get sick," said Professor Roberts. "The hospitals have more cases. The CDC is seeing more positivity in the wastewaters. My own daughter's school just sent out a message saying please don't send your kids to

See Full Page