Omicron BA.2.12.1 Becomes Dominant Covid Variant in U.S., Accounting For 58% Of New Cases
deadline.comTwo months is all it took. In mid-March, Omicron BA.2.12.1 and sister subvariant BA.2.12.2 made up only 1.5% of newly-sequenced positive tests in the U.S.
Today, they comprise 57.9% of all new positive Covid test samples sequenced to determine the variant involved. And that roughly 58% is likely just about all BA.2.12.1.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released data this month that shows BA.2.12.1 is thought to be 30% more infectious than BA.2.
The hope with BA.2.12.1 was that it would be less virulent and put fewer people in the hospital. As it gained a hold across the U.S., hospitalizations did not rise, even as cases skyrocketed.
Unfortunately, and possibly because of even if a small percent of BA.2.12.1 patients need medical care, the sheer number of cases seems to have begun driving hospitalizations higher.The current 7-day average number of new patients admitted with the virus is 3,531, according to the CDC.
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