Overview: Jill Biden tests positive for Covid as ‘Pirola’ variant spreads fast across US

Jill Biden, 72, has tested positive for Covid and is experiencing mild symptoms, the White House said in a statement.

Case counts are rising across the US, and public health experts are monitoring a worrisome new variant.

Doctors warned that the BA.2.86 variant – unofficially called “Pirola” – may be cause for concern as it is a newly-designated, highly-mutated variant of Omicron which triggered a surge in cases in a number of countries including the US.

According to a Thursday bulletin in Yale Medicine, the new variant has more than 30 mutations to its spike protein - located on the outer surface of a coronavirus - which helps it enter and infect human cells. ...

ALSO SEE: Jill Biden positive for COVID, President Biden tests negative -White House