The 'Arcturus' COVID Variant Spreads Across 27 States with New Symptoms.

The highly-infectious Arcturus variant of COVID-19, first detected in New York in January, has now been identified in 27 states, including California, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Maryland. The World Health Organization has labeled it a "recombinant" of COVID subvariants BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 and warns that it is one to watch. The virus continues to evolve, and there is concern that it could become not only more transmissible but also more severe. Population-level immunity from vaccination and past infection may help reduce the size of future infection waves.