Cases Of Contagious Omicron Subvariant Grow In NY

OCEANSIDE, NY — The omicron has split off into a stealth subvariant, known as BA.2. It accounts for nearly 25 percent of all infections nationally, the CDC said this week.

Since the beginning of 2022, omicron has been the prevailing COVID-19 variant.

But in recent days, BA.2 has picked up its circulation in New York and New Jersey, according to CBS News.

"We know quite a bit about it already," said Dr. Aaron Glatt, chair of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau. "Probably almost one in two cases right now in our region are the BA.2 variant."

However, an important detail that Glatt points out is the number of BA.2 cases is relatively low.

"I do suspect that we may see a slight uptick in cases because it is highly contagious," Glatt told Patch.

Even though Glatt said BA.2 appears to be more spreadable, he's optimistic that the large population of vaccinated and boosted people in Nassau County, along with the high number of omicron BA.1, will keep it from putting a strain on hospitals.

COVID-19 shots "definitely protect against serious illness" with this subvariant, he said.

Those most at risk are "people who have never had COVID, certainly if they didn't have omicron and are not vaccinated," Glatt said.

On Long Island, data from Gov. Kathy Hochul's office shows the positivity rate is at 1.67 percent.

Glatt doesn't anticipate changes to mask mandates at this point, as cases may rise but not likely at the levels of a massive increase.