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Will this mean a return to masks, mandates, lockdowns, etc.
?Everyone is kind of tired and has given up? on COVID. But this new variant is ?one to watch,? the WHO says
And... Just when you thought it was safe to... 
Oh, wait. You mean this worrisome new variant has had enough time to be found around the World and throughout the U.S. and hasn't (yet) created any problems of significance to the point that this is the first we're hearing about it?
Uh...
How about we hope for the best and keep on keeping on with the idea of getting our lives back?
?Everyone is kind of tired and has given up? on COVID. But this new variant is ?one to watch,? the WHO says
The World Health Organization has its eye on a new COVID variant thought to be driving a new surge of cases in India?at a time when reported cases are down in much of the rest of the world.
XBB.1.16, dubbed ?Arcturus? by variant trackers, is very similar to U.S. dominant ?Kraken? XBB.1.5?the most transmissible COVID variant yet, Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead for the WHO, said earlier this week at a news conference.
But additional mutations in the virus?s spike protein, which attaches to and infects human cells, has the potential to make the variant more infectious and even cause more severe disease. For this reason, and due to rising cases in the East, XBB.1.16 is considered ?one to watch,? Van Kerkhove says...
From reported sequences, we know that the variant has also been spotted in the U.S.?in California, New Jersey, Virginia, Texas, Washington, New York, Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, Indiana, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Delaware, to be precise.
A descendant variant, XBB.1.16.1, has also been seen in Nebraska, Missouri, and Michigan.
Neither new variant accounted for enough sequences (1% nationally) to be listed in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?s updated COVID forecast on Friday. Sequences of both are still aggregated under XBB, which is estimated to account for 2.5% of current cases in the country.
XBB.1.16 and its descendents have also been identified in Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Israel, Canada, Malaysia, Denmark, New Zealand, Germany, South Korea, Spain, the Netherlands, Thailand, Sweden, South Africa, Italy, and China...
So far, no lab studies regarding the variant?s disease severity have been completed. Reassuringly, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths have not yet risen due to the variant, according to a Thursday COVID-19 situational report by the WHO.
While the variant isn?t causing "large clusters" of illness, it is fueling a "steady increase in fresh cases?"throughout India, Ma Subramanian, health minister for Tamil Nadu, an Indian state, said Friday, The Times of India reported...
If the new variant is indeed capable of fueling a rise in hospitalizations or deaths, it may be too early to tell...
XBB.1.16 has two new mutations in particular that ?makes it fitter than any variant so far,? Rajnarayanan says. Those two mutations don?t exist on relative XBB.1.5...
Particularly concerning is mutation K478R, which may make the variant better at overcoming antibodies from prior infection and vaccination, making people sicker, and spreading in general, according to the WHO...
Unfortunately, it?s not safe to assume that therapeutics like COVID antiviral Paxlovid, vaccines, and tests will continue to work as viral evolution continues, he cautions...
XBB.1.16, dubbed ?Arcturus? by variant trackers, is very similar to U.S. dominant ?Kraken? XBB.1.5?the most transmissible COVID variant yet, Maria Van Kerkhove, COVID-19 technical lead for the WHO, said earlier this week at a news conference.
But additional mutations in the virus?s spike protein, which attaches to and infects human cells, has the potential to make the variant more infectious and even cause more severe disease. For this reason, and due to rising cases in the East, XBB.1.16 is considered ?one to watch,? Van Kerkhove says...
From reported sequences, we know that the variant has also been spotted in the U.S.?in California, New Jersey, Virginia, Texas, Washington, New York, Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, Indiana, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Delaware, to be precise.
A descendant variant, XBB.1.16.1, has also been seen in Nebraska, Missouri, and Michigan.
Neither new variant accounted for enough sequences (1% nationally) to be listed in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?s updated COVID forecast on Friday. Sequences of both are still aggregated under XBB, which is estimated to account for 2.5% of current cases in the country.
XBB.1.16 and its descendents have also been identified in Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, Israel, Canada, Malaysia, Denmark, New Zealand, Germany, South Korea, Spain, the Netherlands, Thailand, Sweden, South Africa, Italy, and China...
So far, no lab studies regarding the variant?s disease severity have been completed. Reassuringly, hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths have not yet risen due to the variant, according to a Thursday COVID-19 situational report by the WHO.
While the variant isn?t causing "large clusters" of illness, it is fueling a "steady increase in fresh cases?"throughout India, Ma Subramanian, health minister for Tamil Nadu, an Indian state, said Friday, The Times of India reported...
If the new variant is indeed capable of fueling a rise in hospitalizations or deaths, it may be too early to tell...
XBB.1.16 has two new mutations in particular that ?makes it fitter than any variant so far,? Rajnarayanan says. Those two mutations don?t exist on relative XBB.1.5...
Particularly concerning is mutation K478R, which may make the variant better at overcoming antibodies from prior infection and vaccination, making people sicker, and spreading in general, according to the WHO...
Unfortunately, it?s not safe to assume that therapeutics like COVID antiviral Paxlovid, vaccines, and tests will continue to work as viral evolution continues, he cautions...
Oh, wait. You mean this worrisome new variant has had enough time to be found around the World and throughout the U.S. and hasn't (yet) created any problems of significance to the point that this is the first we're hearing about it?
Uh...
How about we hope for the best and keep on keeping on with the idea of getting our lives back?
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