Free Republic

But the coronavirus and its variants are still very much around, and still sometimes resulting in hospitalization and death. And the virus continues to mutate. Last week, the World Health Organization said that it was monitoring a variant dubbed XBB.1.16, or “Arcturus.” This is an Omicron subvariant, similar to the most transmissible COVID variant yet -- XBB.1.5,, nicknamed “Kraken.” And if that weren’t enough, a descendant of the new subvariant, XBB.1.16.1, has been detected in several states. (These are alarming outbreaks currently ongoing in the U.S.) To compile a list of all the states where the new COVID variant has...

New York City health officials are warning residents that the infectious omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 may be more likely to infect people who have already been vaccinated or infected with COVID-19. “Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 now accounts for 73% of all sequenced COVID-19 cases in NYC,” the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene tweeted on Friday. ” XBB.1.5 is the most transmissible form of COVID-19 that we know of to date and may be more likely to infect people who have been vaccinated or already had COVID-19.” The department added that getting vaccinated against the virus, including receiving an updated booster...