The Emergence of Arcturus: What You Need to Know.

The Arcturus variant, a new Omicron spawn fueling a surge of cases in India, has reached reportable levels in the US and is estimated to be behind 7% of COVID cases in the country this week, according to the CDC. The variant doesn't appear to cause more severe disease, but it is highly transmissible and has the potential to outcompete all other circulating lineages. Reported cases are increasing in India, where cases of conjunctivitis without pus are on the rise among children. The pandemic is now in the "age of recombinants," and a surge of even a supposedly mild COVID variant should be avoided to prevent the virus from evolving and creating new recombinants to further evade immunity.