Omicron subvariants BA.5 and BA.4 are causing a massive surge in infections in the United States due to their ability to partially evade immunity — including by reinfecting patients as soon as 1 1/2 months after having COVID-19.
New COVID-19 infections are climbing across the U.S. The test positivity rate exceeded 17% last week, indicating a sizable outbreak is underway and that the U.S. is likely to see considerable upticks in new cases in the coming weeks. Deaths are expected to remain steady due to a combination of population immunity and protection from vaccines, which has thwarted outbreaks that would have caused mass deaths roughly 1 1/2 years ago.BA.5 now accounts for about 53% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
Each subvariant is about four times as effective at evading vaccine protection and is more likely to cause breakthrough infections than BA.2, according to a team of physicians at Columbia University. Case rates have remained relatively stable over the past two months. On average, about 108,000 cases are confirmed daily, but the caseload has increased by about 5% over the past two weeks, New York Times tracking shows. Despite minor upticks in new confirmed cases, the rise in test positivity rates and predominance of the BA.5 omicron subvariant portends another late summer or fall surge.
Hospitalizations linked to the newly circulating variants have ticked up steadily since early June. Roughly 37,000 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 every day in the past week, up from about 20,000 this time in May. Admissions to the intensive care unit are also up. Over 4,000 people were in the ICU each day this week, an increase from about 2,200 two months ago.
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