LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — COVID-19 is still a concern nationwide.
And now, two new variants are showing up here in the valley. Scientists have nicknamed the new variants FLIRT after their mutations.
"Insecure, unsure, you just don't know. If you are going to get it, you're going to get it."
That's how Las Vegas resident Monica Myers tells me she feels about this new variant.
"I haven't had a COVID shot because, sure enough, I think I would get it because that's how delicate my immune system is."
Myers says at her age, she hopes the FLIRT variant won't pack a punch here in Las Vegas.
Dr. Edwin Oh, who leads UNLV's wastewater testing programs, says his group was one of the first in the country to detect this new variant in our wastewater back in late March.
"We have seen the frequency of this virus pick up," Oh said. "We see it around the Strip and it is not surprising. We get a lot of tourists."
FULL INTERVIEW: Dr. Edwin Oh tells Channel 13's Abel Garcia about COVID variants in valley wastewater
Dr. Oh says FLIRT consists of KP.2 and KP.1.1. These variants are part of COVID's Omicron strain. He says while it is here in the valley, we shouldn't be concerned.
"The amount of virus that we are seeing in our wastewater relative to what we were seeing when Omicron first entered our community is very much smaller in scale."
Dr. Oh says they continue to collect samples form 20 to 30 different spots all over the valley, from Moapa to Boulder City, keeping an eye out and taking action to tackle the changing danger of COVID-19 variants.
Others, like Felicia Jackson, are surprised COVID is still here.
"It does put out some alarm bells for sure," she says. "This is here to stay and it sucks to say that it is here for years later and it's still affecting families."
WATCH: How UNLV research helps Nevada better understand and track COVID variants
