Volume 19 • No. 2 • January 16 - 31, 2023
Publication Mailing Account #41721512
R’Bonney Gabriel
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Miss Universe 2022
8 Liza Soberano
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Kraken – new COVID subvariant
There’s a new Omicron subvariant of the virus that causes COVID-19. It is identified as XBB.1.5 and it’s also called “Kraken” – after a legendary sea monster of gargantuan size said to appear off the coasts of Norway. According to the WHO’s COVID-19 technical lead, Maria Van Kerkhove, speaking at a news conference on January 4, existing data suggest that this new XBB.1.5 is the “most transmissible” subvariant that has been discovered yet. As of January 9, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) has confirmed up to 42 new cases of the “Kraken.” It was double the 21 confirmed cases reported the week before. In an interview on Global See KRAKEN p3
Multiple subvariants of the original SARS-CoV-2 virus have popped up around the world over the past three years. Image: Yhdysvaltain Tautikeskus CDC
Traslación
1.2M devotees join Feast of Black Nazarene
Ejay Falcon & Coco Martin
A sea of devotees gathers in front of the Quiapo Church to join the celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene along Quezon Boulevard in Quiapo, Manila, January. 9, 2023. The Traslación (solemn transfer) was canceled for the third straight year but their devotion to the Black Nazarene never wavered. (PNA photos by Joey O. Razon). Story on p4.