Steam
After the PlayStation offers, Steam offers a new selection of very interesting discounts. This is nothing new: Valve's client tries in every way to be able to offer low-cost titles to players. This week, in particular, the last days of sales relating to Xbox home games are taking place on the platform.Halo Infinite: the most awaited exclusive Among the titles produced and published in the colossus of Redmond we find Age of Empires 4, proposed with a 10% discount compared to the list price. Halo Infinite is also available at a decidedly attractive price, with a 20% discount that brings the cost to a total of 47.99 euros compared to the canonical 57.99 euros. Let's find out all the most important games on sale just below:
Halo Infinite: 47.99 euros Forza Horizon 5: 50.99 euros Age of Empires 4: 53.99 euros Minecraft Dungeons: 29.99 euros Psychonauts 2: 35.99 Euro Sea of Thieves: 19.99 Euro
If you already own these titles but want to discover something new, don't worry: Steam offers further and important discounts on different games. Among the most important currently on sale on the platform we find Divinity: Original Sin 2, available at a price of 16.79 euros, Call of Duty: WWII, available at a price of 19.79 euros, Hades, available at a price of 13.64 euros and the brand new WWE 2K22, on offer for just 44.99 Euros. Continue to follow geekinco for all the news and announcements in the pipeline from the world of video games.
New COVID-19 subvariant picking up steam, but could struggle spreading in warmer months
If reports from other places in the world are a hint of what's to come in the U.S., a new wave of COVID-19 cases could begin in the near future.
Thankfully, the timing of the wave should limit its severity.
The last wave of the coronavirus was caused by its Omicron variant, a much more transmissible version but also less deadly.
Now, it appears Omicron is back in the form of a new subvariant. Designated as BA.2, this subvariant of Omicron is even more infectious than the first. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control recently estimated the subvariant was responsible for 84 percent of new cases in its New York region.
Although it has the capacity to spread more rapidly than the original Omicron variant, BA.2 will be slowed by an advantage the population didn't have in the fall and winter: the outdoors.
'I don't think we're going to go back to masks and social distancing straight away,' said Dr. Reynold Panettieri, director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Science at Rutgers University.
He noted 'we're coming into spring and summer and these are instances where virus transmission becomes less evident because we're not indoors and not in close contact anymore and people are outdoors.'
Early data, Panettieri added, indicates that the subvariant is still sensitive to our current vaccine offerings. For those who wish to take another prevention route, alternative treatment methods — like the new antiviral COVID-19 pill — should continue to remain effective.
According to the professor, the reason BA.2 is considered a subvariant is because of the minimal changes between it and the first iteration of Omicron. The difference between the Omicron and Delta variants, for example, was much more significant.
When a new variant emerges overseas, it's commonly assumed it will take hold in the U.S. due to international travel.
But that's not the only way it can appear here.
'These viruses are undergoing mutations virtually every time they infect somebody,' Panettieri said. 'There are millions of variants, and the reason you don't hear about them is they don't confer any advantage in propagation.'
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'These variants are occurring randomly, so the chances that a BA.2 variant could just arise in the U.S. without any transmission from another country is certainly plausible because the virus is mutating so many times that it just gets dumb luck and has the same variant.'
Getting vaccinated is the most effective way to try to stem the virus' efforts to create a dominant variant, Panettieri said.
The most recent update from Our World in Data shows that 77.7 percent of the U.S. population has received at least one dose; 66.2 percent have received two doses and just 29.9 percent have gotten a booster shot.
The remaining 22.3 percent who haven't been vaccinated represent a sizeable population pool for a variant to spread.
Still, because of the time of year, it's entirely possible that the new wave won't be as extreme as Omicron was. Aided by large indoor gatherings due to the holiday season, the variant saw new pandemic highs just about everywhere.
'I think we're going to see some attenuation of the infection just because of the season,' Panettieri said. 'If we were heading into the fall and winter in the northern hemisphere, then I'd be pretty concerned because we're all going to huddle to together, masks are down and people are in big groups. The likelihood for infection goes up. So I think the season is going to play in our favor this time.'
Ahmad Austin Jr. is a lifelong South Jersey resident telling stories within the healthcare and cannabis industries for Burlington County Times, Courier-Post and The Daily Journal. For story tips, reach out at aaustin@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: Rutgers professor explains new COVID-19 subvariant BA.2