The new COVID-19 subvariant isn’t yet causing concern among public health officials, but experts warn that the U.S. is not prepared for future variants or surges.
The omicron subvariant BA.2 is at least 30 percent more transmissible than the original strain and is already the dominant variant in the U.S. The Biden administration and hospitals are gearing up for another potential case surge, though many experts anticipate it will be minor compared with the virus peaks the country saw with delta and omicron.
Hospital managers say their staffs know what to do if there’s another hospitalization surge after two years of battling COVID-19, but the question is whether providers have the resources to get it done.
