With the BA.2 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant steadily gaining its hold in the United States, it now makes up 35 per cent of new COVID-19 infections in the country. According to the data updated Tuesday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the new cases are up 22.3 per cent a week prior, and 15.8 per cent two weeks before.
The data suggests the infection rate has doubled in less than two weeks.
Although the original Omicron variant still makes up the majority of COVID-19 infections in the country, its prevalence has dropped to 57.3 per cent in the week ending March 19.
Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said he expects "an uptick in cases" due to BA.2, but not necessarily a massive surge like other variants have caused.
Fauci told ABC on Sunday the new strain is about 50 to 60 per cent more transmissible than the first Omicron strain, adding that it could take over as the dominant strain in the US.
US could face more COVID-19 lockdowns
Meanwhile, British paper Daily Mail has reported that the United States could face more COVID-19 lockdowns if cases go up once again due to the latest variant, even as the most cautious begin to shrug off their virus fears once-and-for-all.
Fauci said easing restrictions, waning protection from vaccines and the rise of the BA.2 subvariant around the world could bring on another wave of rising infections to the United States.
"We generally follow what goes on in the UK by about two to three weeks," Fauci said.
"I would not be surprised in the next few weeks, given the fact that we've begun to open up, and we have an increase in the BA.2 variant, that we'll be seeing an increase in cases," Fauci said in a CNN interview last week.
At the height of the Omicron surge, the United States hit an all-time record of well over a million new infections every day, the report said.
(With inputs from agencies)
Also Read | COVID pandemic not gone, expect uptick in cases due to BA.2 subvariant: Dr Anthony Fauci
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