This is not to scare, but to inform. Hopefully you are all still willing to stay informed. Any new variant, especially one that is this *contagious, has the potential to increase hospitalizations and/or deaths.
UPDATES ARE IN COMMENTS
Updates show the new variants/sub-variants still circulating, with URLs to many country's resources
Arcturus XBB.1.16
XBB.1.16, is a subvariant of Omicron and part of the new class of XBB subvariants. It is prevalent in India and made its way to North America and 20+ countries in the world thus far. We will all be seeing it soon.
*See US CDC chart below for the previous variant contagion (XBB1.5 from which this variant mutated...and the second pinned note)
“It does not appear to produce more severe disease, so for the moment it is a variant of interest and not a variant of concern,” said Amesh A. Adalja, M.D., at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. https://www.prevention.com/health/health-conditions/a43592554/arcturus-xbb16-new-covid-variant-what-to-know/
Main points
📌 Ability to avoid prior immunity from a previous infection due to spike protein mutation
📌 XBB.1.16 is likely to be more contagious than prior variants*
📌 XBB.1.16 likely to produce more high fever
📌 Coughing
📌 More conjunctivitis, and pink eye with inflammation of the insides of the eyelids
📌 Eyes that are itchy and red, esp.in children.
All or some of these symptoms are still as likely as before...
Most common symptoms of COVID-19 remain:
Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea
This chart shows the US variants of concern and how contagious XBB 1.5 is ... still. This new variant is likely even more contagious, but hopefully not as deadly as some predecessors. *The variant chart is updated in the comments or visit the CDC to keep track of variants in US HERE: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions
*Scroll though updates to see the changes in the sub-variants chart in the last year. It will help give you an understanding of why our immunity wanes so much over time, and why boosters targeting the most virulent in circulation are still so important.
This is the Whitehouse answer to COVID (not that COVID gives a shit)
In closing, know that COVID will never care that the CDC or the Whitehouse or antivaxxers or hospitals and clinics and dentists declare it over, which nearly all have.
I will still be wearing an N95 mask whenever I leave the house and am with people I do not know... You?
UPDATE 10
The last time the death rate went up, someone on the main page used only that stat for a bit of scare mongering. Stats are wonderful things, but only useful in trending when compared to previous data. Copying just that last bump on the chart was disinformation, being the trough death rate was the lowest death rate charted.
Here then, is the entire monthy COVID death data charted from the beginning. It changes the perspectibe, does it not? https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_weeklydeaths_select_00
The variants are in a horserace with 3 presently vying for dominance in the US. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions
The updated COVID booster rolled out this fall was designed to target XBB variants. As you can see, the top 3 variants in the US are mutations of the same XBB.1.9 strain.
Please inform friends, relatives and workmates. With fall and the coming family and work events, the stats are going to rise, especially as those who received the previous booster was abysmal in the US... https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccination-states-jurisdictions and not much better in Canada. Only 17% of Americans and 26% of Canadians got the PREVIOUS bivalent booster.
Although XBB is more contagious than some of its predecessors, it is thankfully less than the Delta and certainly less deadly. The same common symptoms appear to present, but there may be more acute runny nose and gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea, than in other variants. That gastrointestinal symptoms can persist as Long COVID symptoms for 18 months or even more should be enough reason for people to continue to take precautions. A meta data analysis of studies found:
Take that from me also... please! https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230802/Does-COVID-19-increase-the-risk-of-future-gastrointestinal-disorders.aspx
For any lurkers who are not American, in UPDATE #6 I added URLS for all countries below the 2 diagrams. https://www.sorryantivaxxer.com/forum/main/comment/82587074-6afd-4036-8973-493c35ab6300
In Canada, stats are only provided weekly due to pressure from CONservative governments, being they are also the top case/death rates no doubt! Saskatchewan has provided only monthly stats and have not updated their vaccination rates since March 2022, FFS... also because they were the least vaccinated and climbing towards the highest death rate when they stopped providing data. it would be best to check your own Provincial data rather than rely on skewed overall data. If you live in Saskatchewan, you would be wise to complain to the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health and place complaints via all resources.
URL https://saskatchewan.ca/health
Email: info@health.gov.sk.ca
COVID19@health.gov.sk.ca
Mailing Address 3475 Albert Street, Regina, SK, S4S 6X6
Sask health Authority phone: 1-888-316-7446
Ministry of Health: 306-787-2718
Phone: 1-800-667-7766
Local public health offices/phone #s: https://www.saskatchewan.ca/residents/health/public-health/public-health-offices
Resolving Health Care Concerns and Complaints: https://www.saskatchewan.ca/residents/health/accessing-health-care-services/resolving-health-care-concerns-and-complaints#client-reps-qccs
When you get no help, try here: Ombudsman Saskatchewan https://ombudsman.sk.ca/
Alberta has joined the CONservatibe Obfuscation game where many of the deaths in the weekly report are from many weeks or more than a month before. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-new-covid-stats-data-respiratory-virus-dashboard-1.7034163