WHO (World Health Organization) announced another COVID-19 variant, first discovered in France. But, is this new virus something people should worry about.
A member of the clinical staff wears personal protective equipment (PPE) as she cares for a patient at the Intensive Care unit at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, on May 5, 2020. - NHS staff wear an enhanced level of PPE in higher risk areas such as critical care to minimise the spread of infection between staff and patients.
As of the moment, governments across the world are already making efforts to prevent the further spread of Delta, as well as Omicron.
Now, another COVID-19 variant called IHU appeared. The World Health Organization explained, during its conference last Tuesday, Jan. 4, that the new virus already infected 12 individuals in France.
Because of this, WHO said that it is already observing further infections that can be caused by the new IHU virus.
WHO Discovers New COVID-19 Variant, IHU
According to Fox News' latest report, the name IHU was given to the new COVID-19 variant by the medical experts at the Mediterranee Infection University Hospital Institute or IHU.
Bruno Cassaro de Andrade, a chemical engineering student, works with a test during the method of separating specific proteins to be applied in the production of vaccines on March 24, 2020 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The Ministry of Health convened The Technological Vaccine Center of the Federal University of Minas Gerais laboratory to conduct research on the coronavirus (COVID-19).
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WHO's incident manager, Abdi Mahamud, explained that it is too soon to conclude the new disease's virological, clinical, or epidemiological characteristics.
IHU, also known as B.1.640.2, was first discovered in November 2021, which is the same month when Omicron was confirmed.
The first individual infected by the new IHU variant was found visiting Cameroon and returning to France. Right now, there are no new cases involving the latest COVID-19 variant recorded yet.
When it comes to severity, an Imperial College London virologist named Tom Peacock said that this new virus is not "worth worrying about too much at the moment."
But, there's no harm in taking extra precautions when going out to the public, especially since the Omicron cases in the U.S. and other countries are still rising.
Daily U.S. Omicron Cases Reach 1 Million
NBC News reported that the daily Omicron cases in the United States had reached around 1 million.
This is currently alarming data, given that 2022 is the third year of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
With the new variants starting to appear, it seems like the health crisis will last longer than expected.
In other news, Amazon was accused of collecting biometric data without consent.
Meanwhile, some Apple stores in Canada and the U.S. were forced to close because of the COVID-19 surge among the manufacturer's employees.
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Written by: Griffin Davis
