The latest Covid variant is 1.5 times more contagious than omicron

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The latest Covid variant is 1.5 times more contagious than omicron and already circulating in almost half of U.S. states

• The omicron subvariant, known as BA.2, is 1.5 times more transmissible than the original omicron strain, according to Danish scientists.
  
• The U.K. Health Security Agency on Friday said BA.2 has a “substantial” growth advantage over the original omicron, known as BA.1.
  
• Nearly half of U.S. states have confirmed the presence of BA.2 with at least 127 known cases nationwide as of Friday.
  

There are already dozens of cases across almost half of the U.S. of a new Covid subvariant that’s even more contagious than the already highly transmissible omicron variant.

Nearly half of U.S. states have confirmed the presence of BA.2 with at least 127 known cases nationwide as of Friday, according to a global data base that tracks Covid variants. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in a statement Friday, said although BA.2 has increased in proportion to the original omicron strain in some countries, it is currently circulating at a low level in the U.S.

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