‘Highly mutated’ COVID-19 variant detected before 2026 primaries, as Acton, responsible for the 2020 lockdown, runs for governor

Public health officials conveniently detected a highly mutated COVID-19 variant known as “cicada” in Northeast Ohio right before the 2026 primaries in the state, with the fact that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Amy Acton played a pivotal role in lockdowns on Ohioans in 2020 resurfacing.

The officials said the variant does not appear to spread faster or cause more severe illness than other omicron strains. However, it carries an unusually high number of genetic changes, according to Ideastream Public Media.

The variant was discovered roughly one month before Ohio’s primary elections. Neither Ohio nor the United States, in general, had problems with COVID-19 in recent years, including 2024, another election year.

Dr. Amy Edwards, an associate professor of pediatrics at Case Western Reserve University, told the news source that, according to early data, these mutations could result in people who are vaccinated against COVID-19 or who were previously sick with the virus contracting this new variant because it would be able to evade previous infections or vaccines.

“There’s a lot of mutations along the genetic material, and so it’s a little bit better at what we call immunologic escape, meaning for those of us who have had multiple COVID vaccines or multiple COVID infections or a combination, this (variant) is basically escaping that a little bit,” she told Ideastream Public Media. “There’s a little bit of cross-protection from this most recent vaccine that came out in October, but it’s not a great match, primarily because of the mutations that we see.”

Edwards told the news source that people should get the vaccine because it allegedly still provides protection against the strain, even though she had previously said the variant could infect vaccinated people.

“Even if a vaccine is less matched against a new variant, higher protection in general helps against all versions of the virus,” she said.

According to Edwards, adults 60 and older and people with chronic health conditions are most vulnerable to severe illness, adding that these categories of people should speak with their doctors about whether they should get an additional vaccine to protect themselves from the virus.

“We still see daily hospitalizations from COVID. Most are in high-risk populations, but for people who are high risk, COVID is still very much a concern,” she said.

Edwards also said that people who are sick should stay at home, while those who are still healthy should wash their hands and wear masks to reduce the spread.

Acton, who was the director of public health under Republican Gov. Mike DeWine from early 2019 to June 2020, was responsible for forcing Ohioans to stay at home in 2020, going so far as to prohibit gatherings in both public and private settings.

Acton left her job as Ohioans pushed back against her lockdown policies, with local small-business owners suing her for forcing them to keep their businesses closed and for requiring them to report to the administration how many ventilators and other breathing devices they have, according to The Center Square.

Ohio business owners previously implored Ohio lawmakers to reopen the state in 2020 amid the pandemic. Ohio.News contact Acton’s campaign but didn’t receive a response.