Earlier this month, the World Health Organization announced it was tracking a new COVID-19 “variant of interest,” XBB.1.16, which has spread to more than 30 countries, including the U.S. The variant, which is also known as Arcturus, genetically resembles the Omicron strain which drove a surge of infections and hospitalizations in Oregon that peaked in late January last year. According to a forecast prepared by Peter Graven, the lead data scientist at Oregon Health & Science University, the Arcturus variant and another variant, XBB.1.9, will drive a wave of new hospitalizations in Oregon that will peak at around 500 patients in late June. Still, Graven expects the state’s hospital system to be able to handle any surge fueled by Arcturus which appears to be associated with relatively mild cases of infection. Peter Graven joins us to talk about the outlook for COVID and other respiratory illnesses such as RSV and the flu.