4 ‘Stealth Omicron’ Cases Found In FL, 2 In Miami-Dade: Report
FLORIDA — Although the number of new COVID-19 cases reported daily in Florida is declining, four “stealth omicron” cases were detected this week.
Two cases were detected in Miami-Dade County by Premier Medical Laboratory Services on Friday, WSVN reported. Details about their age, gender and city weren’t provided.
Earlier in the week, the first two cases in the state were reported, according to the Tampa Bay Times. One case was detected in a sample from a 69-year-old woman, the other in a 32-year-old man. Other details, including which counties they’re from, weren’t reported.
These “stealth omicron” cases have found their way to Florida at a time when nearly 133,000 new coronavirus cases and an 18 percent new case positivity rate were reported in the state from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3, according to the Florida Department of Health’s COVID-19 Weekly Situation Report.
That marks a significant drop from the height of the current COVID-19 surge in Florida, which started in mid-December and saw hundreds of thousands of new cases reported during some weeks.
This new subtype of the omicron coronavirus variant, known as BA.2, has been reported in 40 countries worldwide, including the United States. It’s still unclear whether it’s more of a concern than its highly transmissible parent.
A variant within a variant, it's sometimes called "stealth omicron" because some of the genetic traits aren't as easily seen as the parent omicron variant, known as BA.1, in diagnostic tests.
Related Story: ‘Stealth Omicron’ Subvariant Makes It To U.S.: What To Know
It’s uncertain whether BA.2 will cause another surge in COVID-19 cases, but some experts warn that it will be easily spread.
“It’s very, very contagious. We can’t let our guard down,” Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert with Florida International University, told WSVN.
In a video shared by Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Dr. Manuel Gordillo, an infectious disease expert with the health care system, said BA.2 “appears to be more contagious (than traditional omicron, if you can believe that.”
He added, “The good thing is that it’s not more lethal and the vaccine protects you just as well as (with) the other (variants).”
Gordillo expects that “stealth omicron” will replace traditional omicron as the dominant variant in the United States, as it has already done in some European and Asian countries, within four to six weeks.
Because of how quickly BA.2 is spreading, “I think what will happen is instead of having a fast decrease in the omicron surge” there will be “a slower decrease with a longer tail,” he said.
This article originally appeared on the Miami Patch
