# New Omicron sub-variant called Arcturus **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [April 20, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-omicron-sub-variant-called-arcturus/982944 "2023-04-20T02:22:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-omicron-sub-variant-called-arcturus/982944/1 "2023-04-20T02:22:09Z")
I hadn’t heard anything about it until a day or two ago. Has anyone else? Gotta say that when I Googled the word “Arcturus”, the entire first page was about this, and not the yellow-giant star. > **[New COVID-19 Strain 'Arcturus': What to Know](https://www.healthline.com/health-news/new-covid-19-strain-arcturus-what-to-know)** > > A new COVID-19 sub-variant has been catching the attention of the World Health Organization. This omicron variant, XBB.1.16, otherwise known as "Arcturus" causes patients to exhibit many of the familiar symptoms of previous variants of COVID-19, as... Here’s some more information. It sounds like conjunctivitis and a higher fever are a new characteristic of this one. > **[What to know about XBB.1.16, a new Omicron variant on the WHO’s radar](https://news.yahoo.com/know-xbb-1-16-omicron-195617598.html)** > > A new coronavirus variant has caused a surge in COVID-19 cases in India, and doctors have flagged conjunctivitis as a possible symptom associated with it. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-omicron-sub-variant-called-arcturus/982944/2 "2023-04-20T02:43:10Z")
It’s been around for a a couple of months: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/qFyzMxBy_B4/maxresdefault.jpg "ARCTURUS - New Omicron Variant XBB.1.16 Growth") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFyzMxBy_B4) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/L2ztrQlqtFY/maxresdefault.jpg "Omicron XBB.1.16 (ARCTURUS) Update As Cases Continue to Increase in India") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2ztrQlqtFY) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/2UyleE30ruY/maxresdefault.jpg "ARCTURUS - Omicron Variant XBB.1.16 - Possible New Symptom And Updates On Spread And Severity!") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UyleE30ruY) It’s certainly something to keep an eye on (no pun intended) but except for the ‘new’ symptom of conjunctivitis (actually not that new, just not a high order symptom in previous variants) it doesn’t appear to be more virulent. It is, however, an indication that SARS-CoV-2 continues to mutate and spread. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-omicron-sub-variant-called-arcturus/982944/3 "2023-04-20T02:46:57Z")
When Omicron was revealed, I was joking with someone about how they were going to name new variants if we ran out of Greek letters. We were proposing, Hebrew, Sanskrit, Egyptian hieroglyphics, etc. Not so fast. This time, it’s a yellow-giant star; will the next one be Betelgeuse (assuming it doesn’t go supernova in the meantime) or the like? > **[Star Names That Start With B - Little Astronomy](https://littleastronomy.com/star-names-that-start-with-b/)** > > There are currently 11 stars in the catalog of the International Astronomical Union whose names begin with the letter b. Most of these names have Arabic origins. Betelgeuse is probably the most famous… ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-omicron-sub-variant-called-arcturus/982944/4 "2023-04-20T22:56:29Z")
Someone on another board said, “Thank heavens they didn’t call it Andromeda.” ba-dump ---
**Author:** ![Tfletch1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tfletch1/32/5340_2.png) [@Tfletch1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tfletch1)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2023, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/new-omicron-sub-variant-called-arcturus/982944/5 "2023-04-21T00:28:05Z")
> Someone on another board said, “Thank heavens they didn’t call it Andromeda.” Noooo!!!