MIAMI — Florida is barely over the omicron wave that caused unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 cases and overwhelmed hospital systems with infected patients and staff. But a new subvariant of the coronavirus has already emerged and appears to be more contagious, raising concern that another pandemic wave of infections is on the way.
Though COVID-19 cases are falling in Florida and most of the country, epidemiologist and public health experts warn that the omicron subvariant called BA.2 is driving an increase in cases in Western Europe and elsewhere and may follow a familiar pattern with infections rising in the United States.
There are still many unknowns about the potential for BA.2 to spark another surge, including the level of baseline immunity from vaccination and prior infection, and the relaxation of masking, social distancing and other measures to mitigate transmission of the virus.
