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 #6
I have added data and info URLS for all countries below the 2 diagrams. Time for me to forward them to my friends and family once again. They live all over the world, and although a few felt I was cringy in the beginning, most ended up thanking me for being early and on the ball when they were clueless and now pass the info on that I send. This site may be overun by trolls or disapper depending on the administrator's whim, so perhaps email yourself the list even if you do not share.
I take cabs, make a preorder request that drivers wear a mask, ask them to open windows. Of course I wear a mask, but I also take a package of masks with me wherever I go, have a clip on hand sanitizer on my purse, and a package of chlorox wipes in my bag. I get stares as I use them still but my health is far more important than the numbnuts who think I am a loon... If they won't stop staring, I start lecturing. THAT works a charm.
BA.2.86 is still barely a blip, and has been found in 5 people in the USA and the first case in Canada cropped up a week ago.
https://gisaid.org/hcov19-variants/
Early lab tests suggest new COVID variant BA.2.86 may be less contagious & less immune-evasive than feared
The video also discusses the newest vaccines and why getting it is really important for the immune system to get a boost as the antibodies wane a lot by the 6 month mark to get a new one. Schools and hospital numbers will be the real test of the new variants. https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/early-lab-tests-suggest-new-covid-19-variant-ba-2-86-may-be-less-contagious-and-less-immune-evasive-than-feared-1.6547033
The rise in cases and hospitalizations (from a pandemic historic low, remember) is mostly being driven by omicron XBB lineage viruses. Note that everything that is currently circulating is in the Omicron lineage. That bodes well for those who had the last Bivalent booster. The problem is that, in the US, only 17% took advantage of it!
USA Variants: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions
Canada has free vaccines, and yet it seems a measly 26% of Canadians got a bivalent booster and worse, only 5% of Canadian have gotten a booster in 2023! https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/vaccination-coverage/
Canada variants: https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/testing-variants.html
CDC Respiratory Virus Updates
CDC is posting updates on the respiratory illness season here every week. This is the Aug 30 updated page. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/whats-new/index.html
CDC COVID Data Tracker
A comprehensive data centre updated weekly. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#maps_percent-covid-deaths
Update on COVID Variant BA.2.86
August 30, 2023, 3:30 PM EDT https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/whats-new/covid-19-variant-update-2023-08-30.html
Country COVID info and VARIANT TRACKERS
USA CDC Variant tracker https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#variant-proportions
USA CDC COVID Data Tracker updated weekly. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#maps_percent-covid-deaths
USA Hotspot tracker https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/us/covid-cases.html
Canada COVID Data tracker https://covid19tracker.ca/
Canada Variant tracker https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/testing-variants.html
Canada weekly info https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/#a5
Europe tracker https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/covid-19/variants-concern
Australia tracker https://www.health.gov.au/health-alerts/covid-19/weekly-reporting#covid19-impact-on-hospitals
WHO tracker is trash since March https://www.who.int/activities/tracking-SARS-CoV-2-variants
Our world in data lets you search by country here: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/covid-variants-bar
Wastewater Sewer detection
Here are the Canadian charts. We are remaining on the lower end https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/wastewater/
The CDC has this National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) The map shows who is keeping and relaying data to the national database. Light blue, orange are going up and any red dots are high. https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#wastewater-surveillance