Scientists have warned that a “more contagious” variant of the Covid virus, dubbed XEC, is starting to spread more rapidly across Europe and could soon become the dominant strain.

“At this juncture, the XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to get legs next,” Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in La Jolla, said in a post on X on Sunday....

First on CNN: US faces maternity care crisis, with 1 in 3 counties lacking obstetric doctors to provide care, report warns | CNN The United States is facing an ongoing maternity health crisis in which 1 in every 3 counties does not have a single obstetric clinician, affecting women’s access to care, according to a new report. Jacqueline Howard CNN

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Teen brains 'aged' during Covid lockdowns, new research suggests Brain scans show that girls were especially affected by the loss of social interaction. NBC News

Covid lockdowns, such as school closures, canceled sports activities and stay-at-home orders, prematurely aged teen brains by as much as four years, researchers from the University of Washington found.