Two NEW sub-variants of Omicron ‘hidden’ variant discovered in NYC with cases up 60% –

Two new sub-variants of the “hidden” variant of Omicron BA.2 have been discovered in New York and may be behind the recently discovered cases in New York City and across the state.

As many restrictions on the pandemic, including face masks and vaccines, are beginning to relax and life is returning to normal for many Americans, some key experts warn that it is still too early to reflect the pandemic in the rearview mirror. The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has also extended its US Covid Emergency Notice until July of this week.

On Wednesday, the State of New York announced the acquisition of BA.2.12 and BA.2.12.1 in the state. The strains have a growth advantage of approximately 25% over the standard BA.2 strain. They fall into the same category as the “hidden” variety, which accounts for about 80 percent of cases in the state.

Authorities announced that they have yet to find any evidence that these strains are more serious than previous versions of BA.2 or the Omicron variant as a whole.

Across the country, Covid cases remained around 30,000 last month, reaching 39,000 per day this week. New York, which generally has a large increase in cases compared to the rest of the country due to its dense population, has also seen a 60% increase in infections over the past two weeks.

Omicron’s BA.2 “hidden” variant, containing two new subspecies found in New York this week, accounts for 86% of Covid cases in the United States

While New York may weather the storm of these two new variants, the constant emergence of new variants – and new threats – in recent months has still left some pandemic experts exhausted, even as cases continue to decline and many Americans continue to give up on planning. return to normal life.

Dr. “The virus is not over with us,” warned Michael Osterholm (pictured) of the University of Minnesota.

“We may be done with the virus, but the virus isn’t done with us yet,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, University of Minnesota, one of the leading American epidemiologists at UPIA †

“As new variants emerge, it becomes clear that this virus will not disappear quickly and will remain dormant.”

Covid’s ability to mutate has made it an ever-changing threat to Americans. Vaccines and treatments have required numerous updates over the past year to address the virus.

Fortunately for Americans and people around the world, the latest version of the virus that has taken over the world is milder than the others.

The Omicron variant, which became popular in late 2021, causes much lower levels of hospitalizations and deaths than its predecessor, the Delta variant.

It is also highly contagious and has completely eradicated the most dangerous Indian common species. The variant accounts for all cases listed in the United States, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The “hidden” strain BA.2 accounts for 86% of these cases and assumes the role of the dominant strain of the BA.2 strain.

However, the shift from BA.1 to BA.2 as the dominant strain in the Americas had little impact on Covid cases, with daily numbers still hovering around 30,000 in the Americas – a huge figure recently. the moon was taken.

By Thursday morning, the country had hit an average of 39,441 cases per day. Deaths also remained low, averaging 535 per day, one of the lowest since August.

With declining cases, declining virus severity, and the widespread availability of COVID-19 vaccines, many have seen the pandemic pass and live their lives normally.

Being more cautious during the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that the virus is still a widespread public health emergency that is expected to affect people around the world.

“This is not the time to let our guard down, but to work even harder to save lives,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference Wednesday. said.

“Concretely, this means investing in a fair distribution of Covid-19 resources while strengthening health systems”.

“It is always easier to declare a pandemic than to declare it,” said Dr. WHO official Didier Houssin during the briefing.

Even HHS officials are not ready to leave the virus behind. On Thursday, the pandemic was linked to a state of emergency until July, which would not allow it to end on April 16.

During the state of emergency, certain medical care rules will be lifted and Medicaid will no longer be allowed to remove people from its offer.

There are hopes this may be the latest extension, but the recent rise in cases in more than half of US states is also causing some Americans to fear the pandemic will last longer than expected.