The first confirmed case of the BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron COVID-19 variant has been detected in Illinois.
Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said last week: “It’s a slight variation in terms of what is being picked up, but I want to be really, really clear. It has not even been classified as a variant of interest yet.”
Dr. Arwady explained that there are levels of classification: First is a “variant of interest.” Second is a “variant of concern” and third – which so far has not been used – is a “variant of high consequence.” In a news release on Monday, Dr. Lorenzo-Redondo said the question now is what this will mean for case numbers – which have peaked and are declining in much of the U.S.“Now the question is whether the new subvariant will extend the tail of cases infected with omicron,” he said.“If BA.2 follows the same pattern in the U.S. as observed in countries like the United Kingdom, Denmark or India, we could observe a slowing of the current decline in new cases.
“BA.2 is a specific variant of omicron that carries a number of additional mutations that are thought to make it even more transmissible,” Judd Hultquist, associate director of CPGME, said in the release. “It is unclear if the arrival of this new variant will result in a surge of local cases, but it is an important reminder that we are still in the middle of an ongoing pandemic.
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