The subvariant’s prevalence had been doubling every week in the U.S. since mid-February. The latest CDC estimates suggest that trend has ended, though BA.2’s prevalence is still rising.
The subvariant accounted for an estimated 11.6 percent of COVID-19 cases in the week ending March 5, according to the CDC. This figure sat at 8.3 percent in the week ending Feb. 26 and 4.4 percent in the week ending Feb. 19.
The U.S. has confirmed 4,690 COVID-19 cases involving BA.2 as of March 8, according to outbreak.info, a platform that tracks data on coronavirus variants and is supported by the CDC and other national research groups.
Overall, there isn’t clear evidence the subvariant will cause another major surge in the U.S.,
Michael Osterholm, PhD, an epidemiologist and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, told Becker’s last week.
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