‘Stealth’ Omicron Subvariant Now Up To 25% Of New US Cases

CBS News: Omicron BA.2 Sub-Variant Now Nearly A Quarter Of New COVID Cases In U.S., CDC Estimates 
The BA.2 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant now makes up nearly a quarter of new COVID-19 infections nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Tuesday, up from around 1 in 10 new cases just a week prior. Since January, Omicron has made up virtually all new infections in the U.S. Like in many countries abroad, most cases in the U.S. had been caused by a sub-lineage of Omicron known as BA.1. But while both BA.1 and BA.2 can be traced back to some of the earliest samples gathered of Omicron, BA.2 has only recently begun to climb in prevalence. (Tin, 3/15)

The Boston Globe: COVID-19 Cases In Other Countries Are Rising. How Worried Should The US Be?
COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom and a number of other European countries are on the rise again, and experts are eyeing the increases warily, wondering what’s in store in coming weeks for the United States. “It’s certainly a bit worrisome. We definitely need to keep an eye on it, with the realization that the pandemic’s not over, unfortunately, as much as we all wish it were,” said Andrew Lover, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at UMass Amherst. Lover said surges in Europe in the past have been followed by surges in the United States weeks or months later. (Finucane and Huddle, 3/16)

Houston Chronicle: The Next COVID Variant May Not Be Mild Like Omicron, Study Says
The evolution of the coronavirus is likely to produce dangerous new variants that escape built-up immunity and evade vaccines, according to a new study that may offer clues for the future of the pandemic. In a searing condemnation of “misconceived and premature theories” about the demise of COVID-19, the authors — microbiologists at the European Commission and the University of Oxford — take aim at what they call the “persistent myth” that the virus will evolve to be benign. That omicron caused relatively mild disease “has been enthusiastically interpreted to be a sign of the approaching end of the pandemic,” the authors write in the study, which was published Monday. “Yet the lower severity of omicron is nothing but a lucky coincidence.” (Mishanec, 3/15)

And more news about the spread of covid —

Bloomberg: Covid Drug Sotrovimab Maker Plots New Course As BA.2 Spreads
Vir Biotechnology Inc. started five years ago with an unconventional plan to tackle infectious diseases, for which pharmaceutical companies had shown little interest in researching new medicines. The emergence of Covid-19 presented the San Francisco-based biotech with an opportunity to make good on its promise. It rapidly designed a monoclonal antibody therapy that worked after other new drugs failed. At one point, Vir’s treatment was the only one of its kind that was effective against the heavily mutated omicron variant, helping fuel the sale of almost 2 million doses of its drug to date. (Peebles, 3/15)

Bangor Daily News: Maine’s COVID-19 Gains Have Stalled In Recent Weeks, Wastewater Data Show
COVID-19 levels in wastewater across Maine have largely remained flat in recent weeks, although several sites in northern Maine continue to report the highest concentration of the virus, corresponding with a recent spike in cases there. Levels of COVID-19 detected in wastewater across the state are much lower than a few months ago, according to the latest data reported by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and BioBot. But after a steady decline in late January and the first half of February, virus concentrations have remained flat in recent weeks. Several sites in Aroostook County continue to see elevated virus levels. (Piper, 3/15)

The New York Times: Inside The High-Stakes Race To Test The Covid Tests 
When the pandemic hit two years ago, the United States faced an acute shortage of reliable Covid-19 tests. It was the nation’s first major pandemic failure, blinding health experts and the public to the spread of the coronavirus and allowing the pathogen to spread across the country unchecked. And for much of 2020, getting tested required waiting hours just to be swabbed and a week or longer for results. Now, hundreds of millions of rapid, at-home tests are pouring into the American market every month. The federal government is mailing out free tests, Americans are trading swabbing tips on social media and children are spitting into collection tubes at school. (Anthes, 3/15)

Also —

CIDRAP: Study Notes Postpartum Depression In New Moms Early In Pandemic
More than a third of new mothers early in the COVID-19 pandemic had symptoms of postpartum (after-birth) depression—nearly triple pre-pandemic levels—and one in five had major depressive symptoms, with symptoms for both disorders higher in women who fed their babies formula, according to a study yesterday in BMC Research Notes. (3/15)

Bloomberg: Hospitals To Lean On More Expensive Travel Nurses Even After Covid
Hospitals are facing a new budget-buster as dependence grows on highly paid travel nurses who are poised to take on a larger role in staffing even after the pandemic threat fades. Rising rates of hospitalization during the pandemic forced many institutions to increase their use of travel nurses who work on short-term contracts, often for more pay than their full-time counterparts. Now the surge of pent-up demand for non-Covid care along with the departure of many nurses from full-time staff positions is forcing institutions to look far and wide for staffing help. (Adegbesan, 3/15)