Omicron subvariant BA.2 makes up about 55% of COVID-19 variants in US, says CDC

KEY STORY

• The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron was estimated to be more than half or 54.9% of the coronavirus variants circulating in the United States as of March 26, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday.

• A resurgence of COVID-19 cases in parts of Asia and Europe has raised concerns that another wave could follow in the United States. Despite the rise of the highly transmissible BA.2 sub-variant, health experts in the United States believe that a new wave of infections appears unlikely as overall infections are declining from January’s record highs.

• As of March 26, the seven-day moving average of U.S. COVID-19 cases was 27,895, up about 4% from a week earlier.

• Last week, top U.S. infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci said that although he does not expect a major surge, he would not be surprised to see a rise in cases owing to the increasing dominance of the BA.2 sub-variant.

  Most people in the United States are now considered to be in low COVID transmission, according to new CDC guidelines introduced last month that emphasized hospital capacity over case counts.

• The CDC estimates that BA.2 made up 39%, revised up from 34.9%, of circulating variants in the country for the week ended March 19, according to a CDC model that estimates proportions of circulating variants. The CDC has in the past revised its estimates as it gets more data.