A new COVID variant just dropped, one which has apparently wrought a fair amount of sickness in China, and researchers say it’s already been in California for a month. We’ll see how the new anti-vaxx leaders in Washington, DC handle this one.
We didn’t think we’d be writing these “new COVID variant” kinds of stories anymore, but with Trump back in power, perhaps this was inevitable. The Chronicle reports on a new COVID variant currently called NB.1.8.1, which that paper reports has been “a driving force behind a major surge in cases across China.”
And to make things a little more worrisome, that same Chronicle report says that the variant has been detected in California. In fact, it's already been here for more than a month. Stanford Clinical Virology Laboratory researchers now say the state’s first confirmed infection of what we now know as the new variant was documented in April 17.
CBS News first reported on the new variant being in California late last week. At the time, the CDC said in a statement to CBS News, “CDC is aware of reported cases of COVID-19 NB.1.8.1 in China and is in regular contact with international partners.”
Notably, that statement does not acknowledge the variant’s presence in the US.
But infectious disease experts are acknowledging its presence. "It's been reported in Europe and it's been reported here in the US and we've seen it here in our wastewater in California, so it's around," UC Berkeley vaccinology professor Dr. John Swartzberg told KGO.
Whatever possible threat may or may not be emerging here is now under the jurisdiction of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy, Jr, who has absolutely no background in medicine whatsoever. Kennedy is decidedly against vaccines and public health protections, and has recently been restricting vaccine access.
The new variant has been reported not only in California, but also Hawaii, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington.
Oh, and this news arrives right after Memorial Day Weekend, when in the past we have seen summer COVID surges begin.
UC Berkeley epidemiology professor Dr. Arthur Reingold told KGO, "Come the fall and next winter, respiratory season if you will, that we will see a resurgence, more people getting infected with the circulating variant, more people hospitalized and more people dying.”
Image: COVID-19 new mutation variant Pirola (BA.2.86) - 3d rendered image. Pandemic wave. Viral Infection concept. Concept image for Delta, Omicron (B.1.1.529), Centaurus (B.1.1.529.2.75) (BA.2.75), Aeterna (BA.4.6) variant. Sars-cov-2, 2019-nCoV, Coronavirus. Antibody, Antigen, stealth, Vaccine technology concept. B117 - COVID-19 Variant, SARS-CoV-2 BA.2 Variant, SARS-CoV-2 BA.5 Variant, SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant, SaRS-CoV-2 Deltacron Variant
