It started in September, the first new strain of Covid was detected in London, England. By November almost a quarter of all the Covid tests from London were from the new strain. Now, over 33 countries and at least 8 U.S states have had cases of the new strain.

 This new strain of Covid is called B117. B117 is a new and faster spreading version of Covid. Scientists say that this new strain of Covid is 40%-70% percent more contagious, but there is no evidence that B117 causes worse symptoms or is worse than Covid 19. Most experts agree that the Covid vaccine should take care of the B117 strain. 

That might sound intense to some students, but strains on viruses are very common. The flu virus has four strains, streptococcal pharyngitis, strep throat, has four strains, and chicken poxs actually comes from a strain of the varicella-zoster virus. 

Even though this new strain of Covid might sound scary as long as we all do our parts and continue to follow CDC guidelines it will help slow the spread of Covid and reduce the number of cases of B117.