Covid-19 may have dropped off the personal radars of many millions of people. Masks have largely disappeared in public, entertainment events are seeing some spectacular attendances, restaurants are full.

But the virus in several new variants, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is on an upswing. These mutations "can affect how contagious a virus is, how well it responds to treatment, and how severely it affects people." 

"Based on what CDC knows now, existing tests used to detect and medications used to treat COVID-19 appear to be effective with this variant," the agency said. "[The new variant] BA.2.86 may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received COVID-19 vaccines. Scientists are evaluating the effectiveness of the forthcoming, updated COVID-19 vaccine. CDC's current assessment is that this updated vaccine will be effective at reducing severe disease and hospitalization."