As omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to drive the coronavirus’ spread in the United States, I’ve been thinking about what could come next. Omicron and its offshoots have been topping the variant charts since last winter. Before that, delta reigned.
Scientists have a few ideas for how new variants emerge. One involves people with persistent infections — people who test positive for the virus over a prolonged period of time. I’m going to tell you about the curious case of a person infected with SARS-CoV-2 for at least 471 days and what can happen when infections roil away uncontrolled.
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