1 in 3 new COVID cases caused by new omicron subvariant, CDC data shows

There is new information on a variation of omicron that is causing more COVID-19 cases in the U.S. The omicron variant offshoot, a highly contagious spinoff of BA.2, is gaining steam in the U.S., caused more than one in three new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. last week. That is up from one in four the week before, according to the latest numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We’re set up for another big wave in the summer. I think that’s quite possible,” said Dr. Peter Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College School of Medicine. Cases of the variant spinoff are not evenly spread through the U.S. Last week, the CDC estimated it caused around 62% of cases in the region that includes New York and New Jersey, as well as in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.The CDC estimated it caused about 40% of cases in the mid-Atlantic states and more than 36% of cases in the South. It’s least common in the Pacific Northwest.