Magnificent News: Coronavirus Updates: What to know about the mu variant

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Important developments in the pandemic.

By Ben Guarino

We won't send a newsletter on Monday. Please safely enjoy your Labor Day weekend! As always, The Post's coronavirus coverage linked in this newsletter is free to access from this email.

The latest

The more contagious delta variant remains the dominant form of the coronavirus in the United States. But, always on the lookout for mutations that might change how this virus behaves, scientists and health experts are watching a variant labeled mu, which the World Health Organization recently designated a "variant of interest." That's less concerning than, well, a variant of concern. And Anthony S. Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said mu is not an "immediate threat" to Americans at a news briefing this week. If you have questions about mu, take a look at this FAQ.

As Congress decides how much money to allocate in the national budget to outbreaks, the White House has circulated a memo to congressional leaders in favor of at least $15 billion in pandemic prevention. Former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, whose office was targeted in a 2001 anthrax attack, is arguing for even more money. "Right after the anthrax attack, everyone's attention was focused on, how do we better prepare ourselves? And we made a commitment then that we somehow have now forgotten," Daschle said to The Washington Post's Mike DeBonis. "We know for certain there will be another pandemic."

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The Biden administration endorsed a plan to offer booster shots to Americans in September. As details of that plan emerge, boosters may be more limited at the start – specifically, only for recipients of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, officials told The Post. Leaders of the Food and Drug Administration as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the White House approval and recommendations may only be possible for Pfizer vaccines, given the time required for this process to occur.

Deaths from covid-19 in the United States have reached an average of 1,500 daily, far above the low 200s they were in early July. It was expected that deaths would rise following a surge in cases, as has been the trend throughout the pandemic. What is new, though, is that in many places where vaccination and natural immunity is high, deaths are not – while states with low vaccination rates also tend to be where deaths are surging.

If you are embarking on a trip this Labor Day weekend, do not forget your mask and your vaccination card. There may be crowds, depending on where you go. Though the number of travelers has declined from spring and summer heights, the Transportation Security Administration expects airports to be busy.

Other important news

Thousands of tourists from Asia have traveled to Guam, where visitors to this U.S. territory can get shots of coronavirus vaccines.

Amazon reviews and comments are the latest ivermectin battleground, where users not-so-subtly hint – on listings for the horse version of the drug – that this is a covid-19 treatment. It's not.

College professors in Georgia are quitting rather than risking exposure in classrooms where masks are not required.

The great American commute to work is different now than it was 18 months ago. Some drivers are returning to the roads, but with less frequency. Others are opting for bikes. New traffic patterns and bike lanes are among several ways commutes through D.C. will be different in the fall.

Guide to the pandemic

Track confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths in the U.S. and the spread around the world.

U.S. vaccine distribution and delivery, tracked by state.

Guides: Finding vaccine appointments | Vaccines | Variants | Masks

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Your questions, answered

"How contagious are asymptotic vaccinated people with [coronavirus infections]? I'm mainly wondering this because I want to know: How important is it for vaccinated people who have been exposed to a positive covid person to follow CDC quarantine advice?" – Eric in Texas

Please follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instructions if you've been exposed to someone who has the coronavirus, especially as the more transmissible delta variant continues to spread.

Here's a refresher for what those CDC recommendations are: First, get tested three to five days after close contact – which is spending 15 minutes or more in proximity – with someone who has covid-19. That's true even if you aren't showing symptoms.

Wear a mask while indoors around other people until you get a negative result or two weeks pass, whichever happens first. If you test positive, isolate for 10 days.

At 10 days, multiple studies show that viral shedding – when a person releases virus into the environment – stops in most cases, University of Leicester virologist Julian Tang told The Post in July 2020.

CDC instructions are different for people who are not vaccinated. Those individuals should quarantine for 14 days after contact with an infected person.

The good news is that people who are vaccinated may indeed shed less virus than those who are not, a small but growing number of scientific reports indicate. For instance, one study from Singapore, made available before scientific peer review in July, suggests immunized patients defeated coronavirus infections faster than people who were not vaccinated.

Another report, also published on the pre-review server Medrxiv, followed 23 infected people after they had shots. By sampling those people daily, the authors were able to conclude "vaccinated individuals are less likely to be shedding infectious virus" and they do so "for a shorter period of time." (Note that this had a small number of participants, and the alpha or gamma variant were responsible for most cases because this study took place before delta became so extensive.)

Such research does not mean you should be exempt from the testing or separation precautions. Yes, having to quarantine until you get your test results is a burden. But by shouldering the burdens we can, we all get closer to controlling this pandemic.