BA.2 Omicron subvariant is on the rise in Palm Springs wastewater
Health experts are closely watching a new Covid variant that's even more contagious than Omicron.
BA.2, a subvariant of Omicron is 30 to 60 percent more transmissible – and wastewater data from Palm Springs shows its on the rise here in the valley.
In the past two weeks, testing of the city's wastewater showed about one-third of viral copies detected were of the BA.2 subvariant. Compare that to a month ago, when there was very little or no BA.2 detected.
Palm Springs Principal Civil Engineer Donn Uyeno said, however, over the last five weeks, the overall viral load has remained steady and low.
"No matter the different events that's been in town, like recently we had the big tennis tournament...it hasn't shown a significant increase based off the larger number of visitors," Uyeno said.
Dr. Alan Williamson with Eisenhower Health said although BA.2 is more transmissible, it isn't more severe than Omicron. Vaccines and a prior omicron infection are effective against the new strain.
Williamson said with Covid waning in the U.S. right now, it is a turning point, but it remains to be seen what impact BA.2 will have.
"We do see a significant increase over the past week or 10 days in terms of the positivity rate – it has about doubled in the last week," he said. "It's too early to say what that's going to mean precisely – is this really going to be another surge?"
