More contagious version of Omicron spreads in US, says report

Infectious disease experts are keeping a close eye on an even more contagious version of the Omicron variant spreading in the US, fuelling concerns that the country may not return to normal, said a media report. The virus, known as BA.2, is a strain of the highly contagious Omicron variant that appears to spread 30 per cent more easily, Xinhua news agency quoted the report by National Public Radio (NPR).

BA.2 is found to have quickly overtaken the original Omicron strain in South Africa and other countries and has even caused a second surge of the variant in Denmark. Researchers cautioned the same could happen in the US, raising fears that the spread "may be on track to rapidly accelerate in the near future", according to the report. Omicron is still infecting more than 100,000 people and killing about 2,000 people every day in the U.S. So even though BA.2 doesn't appear to make people sicker than the original omicron, just slowing down the decline in new cases would translate to more serious illness and death.Although vaccination and prior infection does appear to protect people against BA.2, this version of the virus seems somewhat better at evading the immune system than the original omicron was. This increases the concern that it could drive a growth in new cases.