A new Omicron subvariant found in wastewater in the Twin Cities area

A new form of highly infectious Omicron variant has been detected in Twin Cities wastewater, but at lower levels.

The subvariant known as omicron BA.2 is 30-50% more infectious than its predecessor, but researchers are still trying to determine if it is more severe.

It is also unclear whether to circumvent the immunoprotection provided by previous COVID-19 disease, including the recent surge in Omicron cases and thousands of Minnesota infected during vaccination.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BA.2 subvariants have been found in most states. It accounts for about 4% of cases nationwide..

Dr. Rick Kennedy, co-head of the Vaccine Research Unit at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, said: “It will continue to rise and you may see a BA.2 surge as in the case of Omicron.”

The BA.2 subvariant was first discovered shortly after the original Omicron strain, now known as BA.1, was discovered in late November. In some countries, such as South Africa, it is the predominant form of the virus.

“We’ve seen that surge in some countries, but not in others,” Kennedy said. “In some parts of the world, most cases in the country are BA.2, but hospitalization rates have not actually risen at all and the severity is very similar to Omicron.”

However, in Denmark, hospitalization is increasing due to the outbreak of BA.2.

“They just came out of the Omicron Spike and thought they were out of the woods,” Kennedy said.

The St. Paul Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant saw signs of BA.2 a few weeks ago as part of an ongoing analysis of COVID-19 trends conducted in collaboration with the University of Minnesota.

Last week, researchers found that BA.2 was present in 4.4% of the weekly sample up to February 14, an increase from 1.6% in the previous week.

The plant treats wastewater from 1.95 million metropolitan inhabitants, including Minneapolis, St. Paul, and more than 60 suburbs. Wastewater analysis adequately predicts COVID-19 trends, as the genetic material of the virus appears in the sewage before people seek testing. Tests are usually done after symptoms appear.

So far, the overall COVID-19 trends in Twin Cities wastewater Still down Despite the advent of BA.2.

“All signs have fallen much faster and much faster than many other waves we’ve seen since the first week of January,” said Steve Barlog, Principal Investigator for Metropolitan. Said. Council.

The number and trends in Minnesota support this.

Another 4,050 new COVID-19 infection Announced on Wednesday According to the Minnesota Ministry of Health. Due to delays in reporting due to President’s Birthday holidays, this figure represents the four-day test results submitted to the health agency from 4 am on Saturday.

The positive test rate in Minnesota has dropped to 7.5%, the lowest since October last year.

Hospitalizations continue to decline, with 622 COVID-19 patients in state hospitals, 98 of whom require intensive care.

There were another 26 COVID-19 deaths announced Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 12,019. There are over 1.4 million COVID-19 infections detected by the test.

Minnesota discovered 55 BA.2 variants in the month ended February 12, through genetic analysis of test samples. This accounts for 0.5% of the state’s Omicron cases to date. Among the known BA.2 cases, there were no deaths, but one of the cases was hospitalized, according to agency spokesman Doug Schultz.

The Metropolitan Council will release updated BA.2 prevalence data on Friday.

Scientists are still studying subvariants to better understand their transmission, severity, and ability to circumvent immune protection.

Some who had the original BA.1 Omicron later became ill with BA.2, but preliminary research shows that it is not common.

“A reinfection with BA.2 after infection with BA.1 has been recorded.” World Health Organization said in a statement on Tuesday.. “But initial data from population-level reinfection studies suggest that infection with BA.1 provides strong protection against reinfection with BA.2, at least for a limited period of time when data are available. doing.”

According to Kennedy, the virus that causes COVID-19 continues to mutate from its original version, which tends to make it more infectious and helps to swarm other variants. But we need to learn more about whether BA.2 resembles the original Omicron in terms of disease severity.

“We are confident that we will begin to get more information from other parts of the world, where most cases are now BA.2,” Kennedy said. “In the coming weeks, a clearer situation will be revealed.”