Will COVID-19 FLiRT variant cause summer surge?

A new set of COVID-19 variants, nicknamed FLiRT, are quickly growing, with one variant in particular now the dominant variant in the country. 

KP.2 makes up 28% of the cases in the U.S., overtaking the JN.1 variant that spread globally over the winter and made up about 16% of COVID-19 cases in the same two-week span. But could the new FLiRT variant cause a summer surge? Some experts think so, but it might not be as dire as it once was. 

Andy Pekosz, a professor in molecular microbiology and immunology at Johns Hopkins University, said the FLiRT variants are high on his list of viruses that could cause a wave of infections.

"That said, our definition of a wave has changed; while we still see case rates rise and fall throughout the year, we see much lower numbers of cases of hospitalizations or deaths than we saw in the first couple years of the pandemic," he said. 

Read more: USA Today 

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