Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Maggie O'Neill and Ariana Baio

Covid variant ‘Pirola’ spreading fast across the US as new boosters planned for this month – latest

Getty Images

CDC Data Confirms Covid-19 Hospital Admissions Climb Per Capita

Jill Biden, 72, has tested positive for Covid and is experiencing mild symptoms, the White House said in a statement. President Joe Biden tested negative for the virus, a separate statement said.

Case counts are rising across the US, and public health experts are monitoring a worrisome new variant.

Doctors warned that the BA.2.86 variant – unofficially called “Pirola” – may be cause for concern as it is a newly-designated, highly-mutated variant of Omicron which triggered a surge in cases in a number of countries including the US.

According to a Thursday bulletin in Yale Medicine, the new variant has more than 30 mutations to its spike protein - located on the outer surface of a coronavirus - which helps it enter and infect human cells.

“Such a high number of mutations is notable,” infectious disease specialist Dr Scott Roberts said. “When we went from [Omicron variant] XBB.1.5 to [Eris] EG.5, that was maybe one or two mutations.

“But these massive shifts, which we also saw from Delta to Omicron, are worrisome.”

CDC Covid tracker

15,067 hospitalisations from 13 August to 19 August

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.