According to the CDC, the 'stealth' omicron variant, BA.2, accounts for 72.6% of COVID circulating in New England right now; that compares with about half of new infections nationally.
The new strain has several key mutations, with the most important of those occurring in the spike protein that studs the outside of the virus. Those mutations are shared with the original omicron, but BA.2 also has additional genetic changes not seen in the initial version.Health officials are looking very closely at whether or not BA.2 needs to be classified separately and monitored separately.
Shanghai, China's financial capital and largest city with 26 million people, had managed its smaller previous outbreaks with limited lockdowns of housing compounds and workplaces where the virus was spreading. Incoming White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha talks about the new omicron sub-variant BA.2 and whether the U.S. will see the kind of surge that Europe and Asia are experiencing.Medical officials don't expect that the rise of BA.2 will result in a spike in cases similar to the omicron surge late last year into early 2022.
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