Although young children have generally been less likely to catch and transmit COVID-19, health experts have now warned that a new COVID variant is being “readily” spread by children. This new variant is also reported to be more contagious and potentially more deadly than earlier strains of the coronavirus. “This B.1.1.7 variant is a brand new ballgame,” Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infection Disease Research and Policy and a former member of then-President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 Advisory Board, told NBC’s Meet the Press. “In fact, right here in Minnesota, we’re now seeing the other aspect of this B.1.1.7 variant that hasn’t been talked much about, and that is the fact that it infects kids very readily.” To read the full story.