RNZ.
Heading into winter, Covid-19 is making headlines thanks to new variants and an increase in case numbers.
Virus levels in wastewater were the highest they’ve been since December, 2022, according to national surveillance data for the week ending 19 May. And close to 40 people a day were being admitted to hospital with the disease.
Earlier this month, we looked at the rise of a subset of variants referred to as “FLiRT”. Descended from JN.1, these new lineages accounted for just over 40 percent of all Covid viruses sequenced from waterwater, according to the latest Environmental Science and Research (ESR) data.