Covid infections are up by 68%, over the past two weeks, in my county

[BumRushDaShow]

10. Apparently BA.2.12.1 (for places that actually do subtyping, like in NY, but sadly not many others )

New versions of Omicron variant make gains against BA.2

by Brenda Goodman, CNN

Updated 7:02 PM ET, Tue April 19, 2022


(CNN) Arguably the most successful version of the Omicron coronavirus variant to date has been BA.2 -- but it hasn't been resting on its laurels. BA.2 has been picking up mutations, sometimes shifting into sleeker and, incredibly, even faster versions of itself. Global variant trackers have found 21 viral offspring associated with BA.2. Most of these look like underachievers, with mutations of little consequence. But two of these offshoots -- BA.2.12.1 and BA.2.12 -- have been fueling a rise in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in central New York state. And one of them, BA.2.12.1, is outpacing BA.2 in other regions, too.

New data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that BA.2.12.1 caused 19% of new Covid-19 infections in the US last week, up from an estimated 11% of cases the week before and 7% the week before that. The speed at which BA.2.12.1 is outpacing BA.2 is roughly as fast as BA.2 outcompeted its cousin BA.1, according to Trevor Bedford, an epidemiologist and genomic scientist at the University of Washington's School of Public Health.

Though BA.2 is still very much around, it's lost some ground. Last week, it caused an estimated 74% of Covid-19 cases, according to the CDC data, down from nearly 76% percent the week before. Together, BA.2 and BA.2.12.1 accounted for an estimated 93% of new Covid-19 cases in the US last week. "BA.2.12.1 has increased rapidly in proportion in the US compared to other BA.2 sublineages," especially in the region that includes New York and New Jersey, CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund said in an email.

New sublineages emerge

Last week, the New York State Department of Health alerted residents to the new sublineages, warning that they were spreading about 25% faster than BA.2 and were causing Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations to increase, particularly in the central part of the state. It urged New Yorkers to "act swiftly" to consider wearing masks, to get booster vaccine doses, to get tested if they had symptoms and to seek treatment if infected.

(snip)

https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/19/health/ba-2-12-1-takes-on-ba-2/index.html

There are also higher incidences of "re-infections". There was a suggestion in one of the articles I read this morning that this combo of variants may be a Canadian/U.S.-derived mutation (which is why there is a higher appearance of it in parts of NY state near the border with Canada.