Date: March 19, 2002

Amid a growing COVID-19 surge occurring overseas, there are renewed concerns among health officials in the United States that the spread of the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.2, combined with waning vaccine immunity and the decision to end masking recommendations, could cause the country to face yet another viral resurgence.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 23.1% of new cases in the U.S. are BA.2. Studies estimate that BA.2 is between 30% and 80% more infectious than the original strain, and federal data shows its presence in the U.S. is nearly doubling every week.

There are already initial indicators that the nation may be on the brink of an uptick as the nation begins to see a plateau in infection and hospitalization rates, which were previously declining.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Thursday that she too anticipates there could be an increase in new virus cases in the U.S. as BA.2 spreads, warning that it is "certainly ... possible" that mask recommendations will have to be reimplemented.

"We want to make sure that people have an opportunity to relax their mitigation strategies when things are good, as they are right now," Walensky said during a panel discussion with the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Source: Fears of COVID-19 Resurgence in The US Grow as Officials Warn of Potential Upticks