New variant Omicron BA.2.12.1 now dominant in New York, infection guide; Filter up to 47% nationwide in the past week

In February, New York state health officials identified a small number of new COVID cases associated with an even more infectious new sub-variant of Omicron BA.2. Referred to as BA.2.12.1, it accounted for only 3% of all new cases in the state during that month. Figures Released Today The CDC indicates that over the past eight weeks BA.2.12.1 has not only outperformed BA.2 in terms of growth, but has now become the dominant choice in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut region. Data from the CDC indicates that BA.12.2 now accounts for 58% of new cases in the region. Its share in New York state is much higher.

As of April 20, the new Omicron sub-variant was the cause of approximately 76% of new cases in central New York. At the end of the month, according to New York state, “April data indicates that the level in central New York is now above 90%.”

The New York State Department of Health said last week, “BA.2.12.1 in April also accounted for> 50% of the sequences in the Finger Lakes region and> 25% of the sequences in the Capital Region, Valley of the Mojavki and southern tier regions, based on sequences from April 20, 2022.

Cases and test positivity also increased with increasing BA.2.12.1. On March 13, New York announced 902 positive tests and a 7-day mobile test positivity rate of 1.4%. Today the state reported that this figure increased to 6.8% and new cases to 4,786. Even nationally, the variant spread rapidly, albeit more slowly than in New York, where it was first identified.

Nationally, BA.2.12.1 accounted for 28% of all new cases, respectively, the CDC data released today. This is an increase from 19% in the previous week, which means that the percentage of this variant in new cases in the United States increased by 47% in one week.

The bigger question regarding the increase in BA.2.12.1 is whether it will lead to hospitalization, which could increase the number of deaths. So far, Covid-related hospitalizations have increased in New York State, from 817 on March 29 to 1,588 today, but that’s a much smaller step than what the state has seen in positivity issues and controls. This is also a far cry from the nearly 19,000 hospitalizations associated with Covid, which were recorded at peak growth in the spring of 2020.

There is hope that the new variant will be less viral and this, combined with higher vaccination and testing rates, will prevent further terminal rates from rising. With hospitalization typically delayed from infections by 14 days, data on hospitalizations from New York next week could tell the story.