The COVID-19 omicron subvariant BA.2, dubbed "stealth omicron," has spread to at least 74 countries and 47 states across the U.S., according to data from outbreak.info.
Four more updates:
1. BA.2 is most prevalent in HHS' region 3, which includes Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware and Maryland, according to CDC data.
2. Region 7, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, had the lowest percentage of BA.2 cases last week, according to CDC data.
3. BA.2 currently accounts for 3.9 percent of total COVID-19 cases in the U.S., with omicron subvariant BA.1.1 accounting for 73.2 percent of cases, CDC data shows.
4. A South African study analyzing nearly 100,000 COVID-19 cases found that BA.2 doesn't cause significantly more severe illness than the original omicron variant, Bloomberg reported Feb. 16.