SHARP SYMPTOM. Medical workers check on patients in Jinyintan Hospital, designated for critical condition COVID-19 patients, in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province, in this February 13, 2020 file photo. COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1., or "Nimbus," may be driving a rise in cases in some parts of the world that has earned it a new nickname — "razor blade throat" COVID — because the variant may cause painful sore throats. (Chinatopix Via AP, File)

From The Asian Reporter, V35, #7 (July 7, 2025), page 9.

By Devi Shastri

AP Health Writer

The COVID-19 variant that may be driving a recent rise in cases in some parts of the world has earned a new nickname: "razor blade throat" COVID.

That’s because the variant — NB.1.8.1. or "Nimbus" — may cause painful sore throats. The symptom has been identified by doctors in the United Kingdom, India, and elsewhere, according to media outlets in those countries.

Other COVID-19 symptoms of any variant include fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, or loss of taste or smell.

Experts say there isn’t major cause for concern with the Nimbus variant, but here’s what else you need to know about it.

The rise in cases in late May was primarily in eastern Mediterranean, Southeast Asia, and western Pacific regions, the World Health Organization (WHO) said. The new variant had reached nearly 11% of sequenced samples reported globally in mid-May.

Airport screening in the United States detected the new variant in travellers arriving from those regions to destinations in California, Washington state, Virginia, and New York.

Not so far, anyway.

WHO said some western Pacific countries had reported increases in COVID cases and hospitalizations, but there’s nothing so far to suggest that the disease associated with the new variant is more severe compared to other variants.

Yes.

WHO has designated Nimbus as a "variant under monitoring" and considers the public health risk low at the global level. Current vaccines are expected to remain effective.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced in May that COVID-19 shots are no longer recommended for healthy children and pregnant women — a move immediately questioned by public health experts.

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