NYC COVID Cases Spike As New 'Pirola' Variant Arrives: What To Know

NEW YORK CITY — An unwelcome new coronavirus variant has arrived in New York City amid a concerning, weeks-long spike in cases and hospitalizations, data shows.

The BA.2.86 variant unofficially nicknamed "Pirola" has been detected in New York City's sewage, said Ashwin Vasan, the city's health commissioner, this past week.

"While we have yet to find it in a specimen from a local resident, it is almost certainly circulating here," he said in a statement.

The detection comes at a precarious time for New Yorkers.

Summer is wrapping up and students are poised to return to school — events that have coincided with past COVID-19 spikes.

And the city is already in the midst of a weeks-long viral surge.

Daily average COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations jumped 227 percent and 270 percent, respectively, since July 1 after long remaining flat at low levels, data shows.

How the "Pirola" variant will impact the city remains to be seen.

The BA.2.86 variant was first detected late July in Denmark and appeared in the U.S., according to Yale Medicine. Those cases weren't directly linked, indicating the variant is circulating more widely than can be detected by the decreased COVID-19 surveillance in New York City and elsewhere, the report states.

Experts have also raised concerns over BA.2.86 because it's the most genetically different strain seen since the original Omicron variant, said state health Commissioner James McDonald.

"These significant changes are important to note as mutations may allow the virus to evade prior immunity," he said in a statement.

For now, experts don't yet know how transmissible it is or whether it causes more severe infection.

They recommend using the same prevention methods as before: masking, handwashing and vaccination.

An updated COVID-19 vaccine should be available in the coming weeks, and New Yorkers should get it, Vasan said.

"Studies are still evaluating the new booster for its effectiveness against the BA.2.86 variant, but indicators suggest it will be effective at preventing severe illness and death," he said in a statement. "That’s why it’s especially important that New Yorkers that are most vulnerable get the new booster when it's available."