climbed 18% and deaths have increased 17%.
The CDC is starting to focus on BA.2.12.1 in addition to BA.2., director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said last week.
“Epidemiologically, it doesn’t appear as if we’re seeing more severe disease in places that are having more cases,” she says. “So we are not anticipating more severe disease from some of these subvariants, but we are actively studying it.”
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BA.2.12.1 may be better able to outwit the body’s immune defenses, but its spread is also being aided by “the great unmasking,” according to Taj Azarian, a genomic epidemiologist at the University of Central Florida.
“We’re in this phase of pandemic fatigue and complacency,” he tells the Times. “And while we need to balance the weight of mental health with the risk of contraction, as a result we’ve seen an uptick not only in the Omicron variant but other respiratory illness.”
Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for more on COVID variants.