As of Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a slight increase in COVID-19 cases, along with an increase in two subvariants of omicron – BA.4 and BA.5.
Omicron, which caused a COVID-19 case surge over the winter holidays, is the dominant variant of COVID-19 in the U.S. as of this weekend. CDC data shows that several subvariants of omicron are circulating in the country, with the most prevalent – BA.2.12.1 – making up more than 60% of cases.
Together, BA. 4 and BA.5 made up 13% of the omicron cases circulating in the nation as of June 4. According to the New York Times, that was up from 7.5% the previous week.
So far, data about these variants is limited, said the outlet. However, some research suggests BA.4 and BA.5, which were first detected early this year in South Africa, could spread more quickly than other omicron subvariants and could be better at getting past immune system defenses.
Denis Nash, an epidemiologist at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, said these variants have the potential to “quickly” overtake the current dominant omicron subvariants.
“There is not much evidence that they cause more severe disease, although more studies are needed,” said The New York Times.
As of Friday, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the U.S. were up 8% compared to the previous seven-day moving average. Daily deaths were up by 18.6% compared to the previous seven-day moving average.
However, the CDC said that “as we head into summer, many people are at much lower risk of serious illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 because of increased immunity through vaccination or previous infection,” since almost 71% of the U.S. population ages 5 years and older have received their first round of COVID-19 vaccination. For those who do become infected with COVID, treatments such as Paxlovid are now widely available.
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