COVID subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 on the rise in Rhode Island. What you need to know

PROVIDENCE – Now confirmed as having reached Rhode Island, the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants account for 7.2% of new COVID-19 cases in New England, according to the latest weekly report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

This is a significant increase since the week of May 14, when the two subvariants were barely present in New England.

According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, as of noon Thursday, the State Health Laboratories had identified 5 cases of BA.4 and 3 cases of BA.5 in Rhode Island.

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First detected early this year in South Africa, the subvariants have now been reported throughout the United States and in other countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Israel, Canada, Spain, Australia and Italy, according to GISAID, a global platform for sharing genomic data on viruses.

Preliminary evidence suggests that while the two new subvariants appear to spread rapidly, they do not cause more severe disease than the BA.2 subvariants, which still account for the great majority of new coronavirus cases in the United States, at 87%. The delta variant, which punished the state severely last year during what was called the fourth surge, has essentially disappeared.

Should Rhode Islanders worry?

In an email to The Journal, state Health Department spokeswoman Annemarie Beardsworth wrote that “current COVID-19 vaccines protect against severe disease, hospitalization and death. There is currently no indication that this will change with BA.4/BA.5. We will continue to closely monitor evolving data.”

What can residents do?

“It is critical that people take advantage of the tools we have available,” Beardsworth wrote. “Anyone who is not up to date on their COVID-19 vaccine should get up to date today. A booster dose makes you 55 times less likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19. Similarly, treatment is extremely effective at preventing serious illness from COVID-19. Ask your health care provider right away about treatment if you test positive for COVID-19.”

As with all cases of COVID, those attributed to the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are believed to be undercounts, since many people sick with the disease self-test and do not report the results to authorities.

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The New England combined BA.4 and BA.5 rates are below the national rates, which the CDC lists as 13% of new coronavirus cases in the last week. Across the nation, the two subvariants accounted for just 1% of new cases in early May.

The CDC’s Region 6 – Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas – led the nation in BA.4 and BA.5 cases, with 22.1% of total cases in those states. Region 2 – New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands – had the fewest by percentage, with 6% of total cases attributed to the two subvariants.

According to the CDC’s Community Level rating system, all five Rhode Island counties on Thursday remained in the medium risk category.

Word of the arrival of the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants comes as a probable case of another potentially deadly virus, monkeypox, has been announced in Rhode Island.

On Thursday, the state Department of Health reported no new coronavirus-related deaths and 444 additional cases of COVID-19, along with 6,918 negative tests, for a 5.8% positive rate. There were 88 COVID-positive hospital patients in Rhode Island hospitals at last count, down from 97 reported a week ago, with six in intensive care. Rhode Island has reported an average of 412 new COVID-19 cases a day over the last seven days, down 11% from a week ago and down 35% from two weeks ago.

With reports from Managing Editor Michael McDermott.I

COVID by the numbers

Cases in R.I.: 396,773 (444 reported Thursday)

Negative tests in R.I.: 7,642,599 (6,918 reported Thursday; 5.8% positive rate)

R.I. COVID-related deaths: 3,584 (0 reported Thursday)

Rhode Islanders hospitalized with COVID: 88 (6 in intensive care)

Fully vaccinated in R.I.: 835,230 (955,228 at least partially vaccinated)

Cases in Mass.: 1,889,548

Mass. COVID-related deaths: 20,709

Cases in U.S.: 85,230,787

U.S. COVID-related deaths: 1,010,569

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI seeing increased cases of COVID subvariants. What you need to know.