BA.2 Version of Omicron Now Dominant in the U.S. 

Photo credit: Reuters

The BA.2 sub-variant of the Covid omicron variant is now expected to represent more than half of Covid cases in the United States. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that 54.9 percent of Covid cases are made up of the BA.2 sub-variant, which is highly contagious, just like its cousin variant Omicron. 

Last week the World Health Organization said once again that BA.2 is the dominant version of Omicron worldwide. Since then, the U.S. has expected the variant to takeover Covid cases in America as well. 

Covid cases have been rising across parts of Europe and Asia once again, but health experts in the United States believe that the same new wave of infections will not be coming to America. The health experts say that because overall infections are declining from record highs in the U.S. in January, a new wave appears unlikely. 

On Saturday, the week-average of Covid cases in the U.S. was at 27,895, which is up about four percent from the week prior. 

Last week, top U.S. infectious disease official Dr. Anthony Fauci said that while he does not expect there to be a new major surge of Covid cases, he will not be surprised to see a rise in cases, and this would be because of the BA.2 sub-variant and its dominance. 

Most people in the United States are now considered to be in the “low Covid transmission” bracket, meaning that the spread is not as high as it once was in other peaks of Covid cases. 

Scientists around the world have been keeping eyes on BA.2, which is one of three genetically distinct variants of the Omicron variant. The Omicron variant was first discovered by South African researchers in November, and since then has been the biggest one. BA.2 was first discovered in the U.S. in December.

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