These variants now cause more than 90% of infections in Central New York and neighboring Finger Lakes.
Covid-19 cases are rising again in the United States as a whole, but they are rising very fast in New York State. The average daily routine in the state has doubled in just over two weeks.
The daily reported cases are still a fraction of what was at the height of Omicron growth, but the incidence rate in New York is one of the highest in the country right now. Covid-19 hospitalizations have also begun to rise in the state, pushing some counties – especially those in the new sub-variants – to a “high community level Covid-19” where US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is universal. indoor coverage.
This is not the first time these minor variations have appeared. They have been reported in at least 50 U.S. states and territories since January 2022, according to GISAID.org, a global effort to monitor the evolution of the virus that causes Covid-19. BA 2.12 has also been identified in the United Kingdom, India, Germany and Canada according to the database.
It is not clear if they can eventually overtake BA.2 in areas outside of New York.
“Time will tell if we can begin to replace BA.2, the maternal lineage, but for now, I do not think people should panic,” said Dr Wesley Long, an associate professor of pathology and genomic medicine. at Houston Methodist Hospital. “You can have local variants that do very well in an area that remains confined to that area,” said Long, who monitors the variants as part of the ARTIC network.
Long said he has identified more than 80 Covid-19 cases in Houston that have been triggered by these variants since early January, when BA.2 first appeared. However, the secondary variables do not appear to have any advantage over BA.2 in terms of propagation or transmission in Houston.
The rapid growth spotted by New York State officials may not be inherent in these variants, but it is more likely to have happened “by accident,” Long told CNN.
“I know it can be scary, but I think people need to be comforted by the fact that basically the things we need to do to protect ourselves are the same things we did in the past,” he said.
Health officials in New York agree.
“We are alerting the public to two Omicron variants that have recently emerged and are spreading rapidly in upstate New York so that New Yorkers can act quickly,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett, in announcement.
“While these variants are new, the tools to combat them are not. These tools will work if we each use them: get fully vaccinated and strengthened, try after exposure, symptoms or travel, consider wearing a mask in public interiors. “and consult your healthcare provider about treatment if you’re positive,” Bassett said.
According to data from the New York Department of Health, cases and hospitalizations are increasing in the state. Hospital admissions are growing faster among the unvaccinated than those who are fully vaccinated and remain relatively low.
