Ahead of the new school year, Gov. Kathy Hochul is warning about the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19 and an increase in reported cases and hospitalizations this summer.  All viruses change over time and the changes can affect how contagious each is, how well each responds to treatment and how severely each impacts people, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. Earlier this month, a new variant of COVID-19 called BA.2.86 was detected in Denmark and Israel and two cases have been identified in the U.S. The CDC reports it is too soon to know whether the…