BA.2 Covid variant driving new infections in some parts of US
(File photo) Covid in US
Some parts of the United States have been seeing a fresh spike in COVID-19 infections again, causing concern among the officials.
According to local media reports, cases in the northeastern part of the US is ticking up due to the BA.2 Omicron subvariant.
It has recorded at least 126 new infections per 100,000 people last week, doubling the rate compared to a month ago, The Washington Post reports.
Not only in the northeastern parts, the BA.2 subvariant, which is 30 per cent more transmissible than the BA.1, has been responsible for new cases across the country last week, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
At least 27 states are seeing an uptick in Covid cases.
The federal data shows that the new infections in the northeast were more than twice as high as in the west, midwest and southeast last week, according to federal data.
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The BA.2 Omicron subvariant now makes up more than 85 per cent of new COVID-19 cases in the US, CDC data showed.
Experts opined that the relaxations of Covid rules, including the mask mandates, may drive up the cases further and can lead to another surge.
On Wednesday, the Biden administration extended the mask mandate for public transportation for another two weeks on Wednesday.
“Because of the strategy we executed over the past year on vaccinations, testing, treatments, and more, we’re now in a new moment in this pandemic,” Biden had said.
“It does not mean that COVID-19 is over. It means that COVID-19 no longer controls our lives.”
Several universities across the US, including Columbia, American, Georgetown, George Washington, Johns Hopkins and Rice, are also returning to mask mandates on campus.
The CDC said that it was extending the mask order, which was set to expire on April 18, till May 3 to allow more time for them to study the impact of the BA.2 subvariant in the country.
Watch |US:People aged 50 & above to get a booster dose to prepare for BA.2 variant
(With inputs from agencies)