The Omicron BA.2 variant is now dominant in the United States; New cases of more transmissible Covid hitting the north-east hard

The most contagious strain of Omicron, BA.2, is now the dominant variant of Covid in the United States. In the last week alone, it has increased from 35% to 55% of all new genetically registered cases. CDC data. That’s a staggering 80% jump in just seven days.

In the Northeast, which includes Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Maine and has approximately 55 million people, BA.2 now exceeds 70%. All new cases. This is more than 50% in the previous week and 38% in the previous week.

A late January report from the Statens Serum Institut, which operates under the auspices of the Danish Ministry of Health, found that “BA.2 could be ca. 30% more contagious than BA.1 (original Omicron). Since then, some analysts have argued that the benefit of transferring options is even greater.

The good news is that Omicron strains are far less viral than Delta, but as was seen in the US in early February this year, further transmission of Omicron could still cause as many or more deaths than the number. of Delta infections. Alone.

So far this is not happening, only a small number of cases have been reported in the Northeast and there is no significant increase in hospitalizations.

One of the states where BA.2 cases have increased is Florida. Covid data from the Helix.com data center indicates that as of mid-March, Omicron BA.2 accounted for 66% of all new cases in the state. The state’s 7-day median rate of new cases increased from about 2,300 on March 23 to about 4,200 on March 28. CDC data. But hospitalization has actually been reduced, so it remains to be seen whether or not BA.2 will have a significant impact on the local health system, as hospitalization typically reduces cases by 2 weeks.