A new coronavirus variant “mu” has spread to Santa Clara County but is less threatening than other variants, according to the county’s public information office.

“[Variants] may affect COVID-19 transmission, disease severity, testing, treatment or vaccine effectiveness,” a public information officer said in an email.

There are 36 confirmed cases of the mu variant in Santa Clara County as of Sunday, according to the Santa Clara Public Health Department COVID-19 Variant Dashboard. 

Mu was first identified in Colombia in January. The World Health Organization dubbed mu as a “variant of interest” on Aug. 30. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) categorizes each new variant into one of three lists based on severity: variants of interest, variants of concern and variants of high consequence, according to the CDC Variant Surveillance webpage. 

More prominent variants including the delta variant are considered variants of concern, which are monitored closer than others because of variant severity, according to the WHO Variant Tracking webpage.

The Santa Clara County public information officer said the delta variant, which was first identified in India, remains the most threatening. 

“The delta variant has been the predominant variant since July, accounting for the vast majority of COVID-19 cases locally and nationally,” the officer said.

The delta variant is twice as contagious as prior variants and makes up about 99% of current COVID-19 cases in the U.S., according to the CDC COVID Data Tracker.

In contrast, the mu variant accounts for 0.1% of U.S. cases, according to the same CDC Data Tracker.

As the delta variant continues to surge and mu reaches Santa Clara County, some San Jose State students say they want additional information from the university to ensure a safe environment.

Studio arts senior Alyssa Morales said she wishes the university would update students more frequently about variants threatening on-campus operations.

“Having the information is good for people who are more scared than others,” Morales said. “If I knew there was a new case [of variants on campus], I wouldn’t come.” 

A total of 17 students and one staff member have reported contracting COVID-19 in the past two weeks, according to the campus COVID-19 Dashboard.

Kenneth Mashinchi, senior director of strategic communications and media relations,  said the university is prepared to “address” an outbreak of the mu variant.

“SJSU will continue to monitor the status of variants and follow public health guidance,” Mashinchi said in an email.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, addressed the emergence of new variants in a Sept. 10 White House press conference.

“The most important thing we can do to protect against any variant . . . is to get vaccinated, which has always been our predominant message,” Fauci said. 

Unvaccinated individuals remain more vulnerable to infection and spread, according to the CDC Vaccine webpage. 

COVID-19 will continue to mutate and spread newer variants at a faster rate as people continue to refuse vaccination, according to the same CDC webpage.

Piano performance graduate student Mark Wong said he is confident in society’s ability to deal with COVID-19 as new variants continue to arise.

“I am personally of the opinion that [COVID-19] will become endemic,” Wong said. 

“Endemic” is often used to characterize diseases that generally remain present in a particular area such as malaria, which is said to be endemic to tropical and subtropical regions, according to Merriam-Webster.

“Humanity in general is still learning how to deal with this [virus],” Wong said. “I’m pretty sure most people haven’t been alive since the last pandemic and science has definitely progressed since then.”