Why New York’s COVID-19 strain was only classified as a ‘variant of interest’

New York state’s homegrown COVID-19 strain is listed as a “variant of interest” rather than a “variant of concern” — but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s less dangerous than other strains, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. The so-called B.1.526 variant received the classification because scientists are still scrambling to study it…