COVID-19 test.Photo: Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram via Getty
Another rise in COVID-19 casesis likely coming to the U.S. in the next few weeks as BA.2,a more contagious subvariant of omicron, hits more of the country.
The subvariant, which has already become the dominant strain in Europe, is around 50 to 60% more transmissible than omicron, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert,said Sunday onThis Week. But on the positive side, it does not appear to cause more severe infections, andvaccines are still effective against BA.2.
“It does have increased transmission capability,” Fauci said. “However, when you look at the cases, they do not appear to be any more severe and they do not appear to evade immune responses either from vaccines or prior infections.”
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Currently, around 25 to 30% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are the BA.2 strain, but it could soon become the dominant one, Fauci said. He expects “an uptick in cases” in the coming weeks, though not a major surge like what happened with omicron in December and January.
Still, Fauci emphasized, the U.S. is not out of the woods with COVID-19, and anyone who has not gotten vaccinated or boosted should do it immediately. While BA.2 may not cause a major surge, another stronger variant could come at any time.
It’s “no time at all to declare victory, because this virus has fooled us before and we really must be prepared for the possibility that we might get another variant,” he said. “And we don’t want to be caught flat-footed on that.”
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U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy shared similar remarks in an interviewonFox News Sunday, saying that “we should be prepared, COVID hasn’t gone away.”
But “our focus should be on preparation, not on panic,” he said.
This expected rise in cases comes as most of the U.S.moves towards a new pandemic life without mask mandates or vaccine requirements.
“Without a doubt, opening up society and having people mingle indoors is clearly something that is a contributor, as well as overall waning immunity, which means we’ve really got to stay heads-up and keep our eye on the pattern here,” Faucitold CNNlast week. “So that’s the reason why we’re watching this very carefully.”
With asymptomatic or untested people able to shed the virus, wastewater samples can capture a more accurate idea of how much COVID-19 is circulating in an area than testing positivity rates. The CDC’s wastewater data shows a rise in COVID-19 in parts of Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, Illinois and New York.
source: people.com
