While COVID-19 cases are on a downtrend in Oklahoma, virus season is upon us — and this summer saw the highest spike in percent positive COVID-19 cases in Oklahoma since the summer of 2022. As has been the pattern over the last few years,

The XEC variant of the coronavirus has begun spreading globally. The clearly dominant symptom is loss of appetite, but previously known symptoms also appear. In the first half of October, over 12,000 cases were reported in Poland.

"CDC is monitoring the XEC variant," Rosa Norman, a CDC spokesperson told USA TODAY. "XEC is the proposed name of a recombinant, or hybrid, of the closely related Omicron lineages