Rising COVID Case Numbers from New Variant a Cause for Concern
PLEASANTON (KPIX) -- Just when it seemed like the coronavirus was in retreat and the global focus had shifted to another international crisis -- namely the war in Ukraine -- COVID case numbers are rising again in two parts of the world.
The steady climb in coronavirus cases in parts of Western Europe and East Asia is being attributed to the Omicron sub-variant BA.2, leaving many wondering what those numbers might mean for the United States and the Bay Area.
"In Western Europe, in the UK, you are seeing rises in cases," said UCSF Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Monica Gandhi. "And that's happening in the wastewater here in the United States. That is likely BA.2, which is a little more transmissible. However, in highly vaccinated regions, the question is are we seeing an increase in hospitalizations. And that doesn't seem to be happening."
Dr. Gandhi said case numbers in places like the UK are likely coming from BA.2. The so-called "stealth variant" is more transmissible, but it's not making more people seriously ill. In fact, many of the cases being discovered in European hospitals are incidental, meaning the patient was admitted for something else.
"So we have to wait and watch, but I think that a highly transmissible variant can increase cases," Gandhi said. "But in highly vaccinated places like our own, it should not increase hospitalizations."
"The other place that's wildly out of control is East Asia, Australia and New Zealand," said UCSF Epidemiologist George Rutherford. "My reading of that is that's all omicron, and it's kind of what happened here in December and January. So it is sort of their version of what we came through."
Dr. Rutherford says East Asia is facing a wave that is now behind the United States. But as the virus continues to circulate around the world, new variants will cause new cases, abroad and at home.
"This thing is going to go up, it's going to go down," Rutherford said. "The question is are there more hospitals in the answer to which, so far, is no."
BA.2 sub-variant now nearly a quarter of new COVID cases in the U.S. That's up from 1 in 10 just a week ago.