Just when many may start to think the pandemic is over, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking another new potentially dangerous coronavirus variant called Orthrus CH.1.1.
It got its name from a variant tracker in Australia. Orthrus in Greek mythology was a two-headed cattle dog.
As of this week, it's at just under two percent of cases in the United States.
While it comes from the omicron variant, the concern is that it has a mutation seen in delta and that was a potentially deadly and dangerous strain.
“Delta seemed to be a little bit more severe, so it caused more people to be admitted to be admitted to the hospital, more people in intensive care,” said infectious disease specialist Dr. Stephen Blatt.
Technically, the country isn't really at the end of the emergency phase of the pandemic.
