The first lady of the United States tested positive for COVID -19 recently, but according to a news release she is experiencing minor symptoms. After Jill Biden tested poitive, President Joe Biden was also tested and he did not have it. As the COVID-19 cases rises in the United States, COVID-related hospitalizations have grown in the country for six weeks in a row, with a 18% increase reported in the most recent week according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Pirola, the BA.2.86 strain, has already been identified in five states: New York, Texas, Michigan, Virginia, and Ohio.
The first lady tested positive for COVID-19 on August 16, 2022, tafter getting "cold-like symptoms" near the end of her family's trip to Kiawah Island, South Carolina.The strain was originally identified in Israel on Sunday, August 20, and cases have since been reported in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, and Portugal.
The symptoms of Pirola should be identical to those of Omicron, namely:
Cough
Sore throat
Headaches
Runny nose
Sneezing
The variant was discovered in New York earlier this week after wastewater samples tested positive for the strain. Texas is the most recent state to announce Pirola's presence.
The initial case in the United States involved a senior citizen who had just returned from Japan. She reportedly only experienced minimal symptoms.
Although Pirola's 30 mutations are from the BA.2 family , which was the dominant Omicron strain in 2022, authorities stated at a World Health Organization (WHO) news briefing on Friday, Aug. 25, that BA.2.86 is a member of the Omicron variant family, but that this could change if the strain spreads more widely.