New COVID variant Arcturus may cause pink eye: officials

Officials at the Los Angeles Department of Public Health (LACDPH) said that the new COVID-19 subvariant might cause pink eye after confirming three new cases of the strain on Thursday.

Observational data recorded by the LACDPH suggests those who have been infected with the rapidly spreading Omicron strain XBB.1.16 — better known as Arcturus — have shown symptoms of conjunctivitis.

According to a statement issued by the LACDPH, “it is too early to know with certainty if XBB.1.16 is truly associated with higher rates of conjunctivitis, amid an already active allergy season in Southern California.”

“Residents should be aware that itchy, watery or red eyes may be a sign of a COVID-19 infection and these symptoms should not be simply dismissed as a result of pollen or seasonal allergies,” continues the statement. “Especially if someone more vulnerable to severe illness could be exposed.”

The LACDPH said that since the new strain is a version of the Omicron variant — one of more than 600 — current vaccines “are highly likely to remain protective and able to ward off severe illness.”

“The fact that we are seeing new strains, with possibly new and different symptoms, tells us that COVID continues to evolve and the way we think about our protections should reflect what we know,” added the report.

Arcturus — which was discovered in India in January — is currently being monitored by the World Health Organization as a “variant of interest” after it was discovered to be 1.2 more infectious than the previous Kraken variant, which was predominantly found in the UK at the end of February.

In response, India’s health ministry has been conducting fake drills in order to see if hospitals are properly prepared to handle an influx of COVID patients as well as reintroducing mask mandates in public places.

“It’s been in circulation for a few months. We haven’t seen a change in severity in individuals or in populations, but that’s why we have these systems in place,” Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, said during a press conference.

“Systems to track the virus variants, global collaborations to assess transmissibility, immune escape, severity and the impact of any of our interventions including diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.”

The WHO also expressed its fear that Arcturus would become the dominant strain in the US in the near future.

“Due to its estimated growth advantage and immune escape characteristics, XBB.1.16 may spread globally and contribute to an increase in case incidence,” WHO announced in a new report. “However, at present, there is no early signal of an increase in severity.”

A tracker set up by Rajendram Rajnarayanan, MSc, Ph.D., of the New York Institute of Technology shows that new strain has already begun to pop up in several states such as California, Washington, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Texas.

The CDC estimated that Arcturus is responsible for the 9.6% rise in new infections this week. This represents an increase from nearly 6% last week and about 3% the week prior.

Scientists have since suggested that the continued mutations of the variant could make it difficult for the immune system to fight.