The variants latch onto cells more tightly, invade them more efficiently, and elude many of the antibodies induced by previous infections and vaccines.
Over 122 million more people around the world are facing hunger since 2019 due to COVID-19 and repeated weather shocks and conflicts like the war in Ukraine.
In 2019 the State Legislature passed legislation which gave the Governor the ability to declare a State of Emergency, and the emergency powers associated with it, without a mandated end date or a legislative extension.