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Thursday, February 24th, 2022

More contagious version of omicron spreads in U.S., fueling worries

Author:     Rob Stein
Source:     npr
Publication Date:     February 21, 2022 | 7:00 AM ET
Link: More contagious version of omicron spreads in U.S., fueling worries
Stephan:   There seems to be a general sense in American society that we are coming to the end of this pandemic, but the numbers say otherwise. Omicron is still infecting more than 100,000 people and killing about 2,000 people every day in the U.S. Two thousand people a day is 730,000 a year. I urge all my readers to get vaccinated and boosted if they have not already done so, wear a safe mask, and stay away from crowds. This pandemic is far from over.
Thousands of people test positive for the coronavirus in the U.S. daily, and a small but growing fraction of them are for the more contagious omicron variant BA.2.
Credit: Jon Cherry/Getty

As the omicron surge continues to decline in the U.S., infectious disease experts are keeping a close eye on an even more contagious version of the variant that could once again foil the nation’s hopes of getting back to normal.

The virus, known as BA.2, is a strain of the highly contagious omicron variant that appears to spread even more easily — about 30% more easily.

Because BA.2 quickly overtook the original omicron in South Africa and other countries and has even caused a second omicron surge in Denmark, researchers have been bracing for the same thing to happen in the U.S.

“A lot of us were assuming that it was going to quickly take off in the United States just like it was doing in Europe and become the new dominant variant,” says Nathan Grubaugh, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health.

So […]

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