Omicron’s more contagious subvariant, BA.2, has doubled in cases over the last two weeks in the U.S. According to the CDC, the mutation now represents 34% of COVID-19 infections. As of now, BA.2 possibly accounts for 50% of the new infections in the U.S. Also, since many people take tests at home, their results aren’t picked up in the official database tracking COVID-19. Currently, data from Walgreens shows BA.2 as the dominant variant, with 51% of all positive cases for the week ending on March 19th.
Despite the rising cases of the new subvariant, health officials are not expecting another surge like when Omicron first popped out. Fortunately, the level of immunity in the population from vaccinations is to thank. “The bottom line is we’ll likely see an uptick in cases, as we’ve seen in the European countries, particularly the U.K.,” White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci told ABC’s “This Week.” “Hopefully, we won’t see a surge — I don’t think we will.”
BA.2 Percentages
According to government data, the number of COVID-19 tests jumped over 16% over the past week, and the number of patients admitted to the hospitals is up 20%. As of March 10th, BA.2 represents about 44% of all positive cases in London. However, the U.S. differs from European countries because we had higher cases of Omicron infection during the winter. In addition, many European nations lifted restrictive public health measures, which led to a spike in cases. Unlike those nations, the U.S. didn’t implement restrictive measures during Omicron, and that’s why we haven’t experienced a surge.
According to the data from CNBC analysis, new infections are down 96% from the record of more than 800,000 on January 15th. New cases plateaued at a seven-day average of around 31,000 new infections daily. Per the CDC, the number of hospital admissions of patients with COVID-19 has dropped 90% from the Omicron wave in January. Although it is expected that the subvariant will represent over 80% of new cases in the coming months, the variant’s doubling time has slowed down. Currently, health officials are moving towards an endemic phase for the U.S.
The BA.2 variant is the most contagious so far. Luckily, BA.2 doesn’t make people sick as the BA.1 variant, which was less severe than the Delta variant. Reinfection with BA.2 is possible but is rare. Dr. Fauci doesn’t believe there is a need to reimplement COVID restrictions at this time. The CDC permitted lifting mask restrictions in public indoor places earlier this month. And U.S. public health authorities shifted their focus to hospitalizations instead of new infections. At the same time, the Biden administration relies on a strategy of vaccination, testing, and treatment with antiviral pills to prevent the virus from disrupting daily life.
