NBC News: The BA.2 Subvariant is now the dominant variant of new covid-19 cases

According to recent CDC data, the BA.2 subvariant of the omicron variant is rapidly spreading across the United States, accounting for approximately 72 percent of all new Covid-19 cases. Despite its rapid growth, health experts in the United States believe there is no cause for concern. This is due to the fact that there’s no evidence that the subvariant is more severe than the original omicron strain, and the country’s increased level of immunity from vaccinations and past infections makes it less likely to pose a significant threat. Dr. Christopher Murray, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington and the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, said, “I would not be hugely concerned about BA.2.” “So, the combination should lead to pretty low levels in the Northern Hemisphere after the BA.2 wave,” he added. However, any upsurge in COVID cases can be consequential. “People are still going to get sick, some people are going to land in the hospital, and some people are going to die, whether it’s a big wave or a small wave,” Bogoch noted. The full article by Berkeley Lovelace Jr. can be viewed here