Coronavirus cases in the US are growing as the new, highly infectious omicron subvariant begins to take over the world.
The US averages more than 56,000 new cases of coronavirus each day. That’s from about 25,000 cases reported daily in early April.
Almost every nationwide infection comes from a variety of omicron coronavirus. There are several omicron subvariants, and BA.2 – sometimes called “stealth omicron” – has been circulating since March.
But another omicron subvariant is growing rapidly, and experts believe it may be more transferable than BA.2.
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BA.2.12.1 was responsible for 29% of new coronavirus infections since mid-April, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is up from 19% of cases last week and 14% of cases in the first week of April.
“As a reminder, it was the BA.1 omicron subvariant that triggered the surgery earlier this year,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters last week. “Currently, BA.1 is only about 3% of the sequence identified. Now we often find that it is a BA.2 omicron subvariant, which makes up about 68% of the circulating virus. Recently, we received a BA.2.12.1 subvariant. ”
Some regions, such as the Northeast, see more cases of BA.2.12.1 than others. The New York State Department of Health began announcing the emergence of a subvariant in mid-April. It has been monitoring 41% of cases across the province since April 23, according to the department.
“We are beginning to learn about the impact of BA.2.12.1,” Walensky said. “It looks like it could have an effect of about 25% over the BA.2 subvariant. Further testing is currently underway to understand the impact of BA.2.12.1 on policy performance. But more importantly, we continue to believe that those who are vaccinated and especially those who are raised, continue to have strong immunity to serious diseases, even in BA.2.12.1. ”
The World Health Organization agreed with the CDC study, noting that BA.2.12.1 appears to have a “growth benefit” than BA.2 but adds that the data are limited.
“At present, the available evidence does not suggest a discrepancy or clinical manifestation,” the WHO concluded in a recent report. “More data is expected as the study progresses.”
Helix, the genetic component of the COVID-19 gene, predicts that BA.2.12.1 will not cause further increase in conditions. But the company added in a statement that the alternative is growing in the US, as other countries have not seen it catch on to the same level.
It noted that “this means that like Delta, the sub-Omicron variant is becoming more and more diverse and it is becoming more and more difficult to rely on foreign trends for details.”
And the US should expect coronavirus surgery in the summer at least throughout the South, according to former White House coronavirus response coordinator Deborah Birx.
“We should now be preparing for possible summer surgeries across the United States because we saw it in 2020 and saw it in 2021,” Birx told CBS ” Face the Nation “on Sunday.
With multiple infections it is more likely that the virus will mutate, too. That makes planning for the future difficult, according to WHO’s Maria Van Kerkhove.
“The uncertainty we have about what the difference will be is still a big factor for us because we need to plan for a wide variety of situations,” Van Kerkhove told a news conference last week.