NYC COVID cases up 250% in 2 months — driven by FLirt variant

NYC COVID cases up 250% in 2 months — and this variant's harder to duck The increases is driven by the new FLiRT variant. Gothamist

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New York City data shows an average of 687 cases of COVID reported per day during the week ending on June 22, 250% higher than the amount reported two months prior. That same week, there was an average of 53 COVID-related hospitalizations each day — primarily involving older adults — and one death, according to city data. ...

Many people have developed some level of immunity against the virus, either through vaccination or past infection. While “FLiRT” variants can slip past that immunity, having some immunity still tends to make symptoms milder, said Andrew Pekosz, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who researches respiratory viruses.

“Overall, disease severity is dropping,” he added.

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