Headline today: “Another new coronavirus variant found across California, including L.A. County.” This variant, L425R, which has three mutations to the spike proteins is not the same as the UK variant, known as B117. Describing the L425R variant as “new” is misleading.

Coronavirus affects animals too. Now it’s been found in gorillas at the San Diego Zoo. It started with symptoms–a cough and congestion–and a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 in fecal samples confirmed the diagnosis. They may have contracted it from an asymptomatic caregiver,

Only 58 days until the Pandemic Anniversary! I see Thursday, March 11 as a turning point, a time when we hear news about fewer cases/hospitalizations/deaths and more about openings, reunions, and summertime. On that day we begin the six months toward normal life, the final third of the eighteen months that I expect the pandemic to last.

Have you noticed the coverage of Florida’s vaccine distribution? The news shows long lines of cars with senior citizens waiting for hours for their turn. I worry about elderly adults spending the night in their cars with granola bars, sleeping bags, and Dixie cups.

Here’s something new–especially for those who like quizzes. A Nature Briefing update just popped into my mailbox telling about apps that estimate your risk of encountering COVID. It describes three apps which anyone can use to assess their risk of exposure to COVID and one app which tells your risk of dying from COVID. I couldn’t resist giving them a try.

These are the darkest days of winter. And this morning, pondering the imperceptible lengthening of the daylight that began this week and reading about the pandemic reaching Antarctica, I suddenly realized that the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year, is a Northern Hemisphere event. I should have known that by now. I remember my Dad telling me how the Winter Solstice is the longest night of the year and I think I just assumed that this applied to everybody in the world.

The column I wrote on Day 279 is now out of date, which is what we’ve come to expect with COVID. A new faster-spreading strain of coronavirus was identified in England on Dec. 13, 2020. So the relaxation of lockdown rules for Christmas has been reversed. As Prime Minister Boris Johnson said today, “We cannot continue with Christmas as planned.”