Mutations

New variant drives up COVID-19 hospitalizations in New York New COVID-19 variant impacts New York State Spectrum News 1 Central NY

A new COVID-19 strain is throwing a monkey wrench into the end of the summer and start of school. The most recent variant, dubbed EG.5, has led to an uptick in COVID-19 cases across New York state, and health experts are investigating.

UK posts initial COVID-19 BA.2.86 risk assessment Officials say the rapid appearance in multiple countries in people without travel histories suggests established international spread. CIDRAP

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The newly identified variant has many genetic mutations and is distant from BA.2, its likely ancestor, and currently circulating XBB variants. The similarity of the sequences so far—six samples from four countries—suggests relatively recent emergence and rapid growth, but the HSA said it has low confidence in that assessment, pending the examination of further sequences.

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How Many Times Will the Average Person Get COVID? Because the CDC is no longer tracking COVID cases, it’s hard to determine exactly how many people are getting sick, and how often. People with compromised immune systems may contract the virus more frequently. As the SARS-CoV-2 virus has entered its endemic stage, people are still contracting COVID, and new strains, including EG.5, continue to keep physicians and scientists on alert. Yahoo Life

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