BA.2 Accounts for Over Half of New U.S. Cases, C.D.C. Estimates
Estimated To the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday, a highly contagious subvariant of Omicron known as BA.2, which has led to a spike in coronavirus cases in Europe, is currently the dominant version of the virus in new cases in the US.
Last week, the World Health Organization confirmed that BA.2 is the dominant version of Omicron worldwide, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, said she expected it to become dominant in the US at short notice
The number of hospitalizations due to the coronavirus has plummeted by about 35 percent in the past two weeks, to about 18,000 a day. Hospitalizations in intensive care units have also declined, by about 42 percent, to fewer than 3,000 people.
And there are about 750 coronavirus deaths in the US each day, the lowest daily average since the Omicron variant took hold late last fall. The last time the rate was so low was in mid-August.
In some European countries, the rise in BA.2 occurred at the same time as a surge in new cases. In the Asia-Pacific region, Hong Kong, South Korea, and New Zealand, which were relatively unaffected by earlier options, are now under attack by BA.2.
Experts have repeatedly stated that vaccines continue to protect people from serious illnesses, especially those who have received boosters. During the BA.1 surge, vaccines remained highly effective against hospitalizations, and presumably also during the BA.2 surge.
