The 'FLiRT' COVID-19 variants are a new group of strains circulating in the United States, which now account for over one in four cases nationwide. Although cases and hospitalizations have been down, the virus that causes COVID-19 continues to mutate and give rise to a seemingly endless stream of new variants. The latest to gain attention, KP.2 and KP.1.
Gregory regularly posts about the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and is behind many of the other popular variant nicknames. Why are they called FLiRT variants? Not surprisingly, the new strains aren’t spread by winking, giving compliments, or other signals of romantic interest and attraction. They have nothing to do with flirting at all. The name ‘FLiRT” is based on the technical names for the variants' spike protein mutations, Pekosz said.