> So a) a newer variant will definitely have a higher viral load on average just because people are more likely to be at an earlier stage in the infection cycle

> So a) a newer variant will definitely have a higher viral load on average just because people are more likely to be at an earlier stage in the infection cycle, especially if it is more transmissible Why would that be? The new variant is several months old already. See e.g. Figure 1A in the report [1] [1] https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-analysis/covid-19/report-42-sars-cov-2-variant/ https://www.imperial.ac.uk/mrc-global-infectious-disease-ana...