More Omicron Variants, Possibly More Trouble Ahead

While we as a people have moved on from the pandemic, the pandemic and the omicron variant may not be done with us. The threat has always been that a new, more virulent form of the virus would establish itself, one that previous infections, vaccines or even antivirals are not as effective against.

That day may be coming soon. Here is a quote from the Washington Post: "The pace of evolution[virus mutation] is so fast that many scientists depend on Twitter to keep up. A month ago, scientists were worried about BA.2.75, a variant that took off in South Asia and spawned a cloud of other concerning sublineages. In the United States, BA.4.6 and BF.7 have been slowly picking up steam. A few weeks ago, BQ.1.1 started to steal the spotlight — and still looks like a contender to take over this fall in Europe and North America. A lineage called XBB looms on the sidelines, and threatens to scramble the forecast."

Then there are the current statistics that don't seem to go away. These are the numbers for the United States for Oct. 17, 2022.

Cases	37,655
Test positivity	8.5%
Hospitalized	26,025
In I.C.U.s	3,028
Deaths	357