Stealth Omicron was first identified in Utah about a month ago.
Only seven cases have been identified in the state so far, but the subvariant is spreading rapidly in other parts of the world.
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Will there be another surge?
Stealth Omicron, or BA.2, may soon be hard to differentiate from the original Omicron variant. BA.2 is showing up in 1,500 COVID-19 test samples.
Large numbers of tests haven’t been sequenced in Utah yet, but more are expected.
The BA.2 variant found in Utah may be responsible for cases in Denmark. Stealth Omicron also seems to be pushing through the United Kingdom and other European and some Asian countries, like India and the Philippines.
The CDC found that BA.2 accounts for about 3.6% of COVID-19 cases in the United States.
It is believed that Utah’s 1.5% increase in COVID-19 cases were a result of stealth Omicron. However, Utah’s health department website, does not include a count of BA.2 cases.
It is hard to know if there will be another surge or not, COVID-19 has continually been keeping us on our toes, and that isn’t over yet.
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