New York’s Surging Covid Cases Driven by New Omicron Subvariants

Two new omicron subvariants that appear even more transmissible than the highly-contagious BA.2 are driving an uptick in Covid cases in New York, the state’s health department said Wednesday.

While there’s no evidence that either causes more severe disease, the department estimates they have a 23% to 27% growth advantage over the BA.2 variant that was itself more infectious than the original omicron. It’s the first reported instance of significant community spread due to the two subvariants in the U.S.

“We are alerting the public to two omicron subvariants, newly emerged and rapidly spreading in upstate New York, so New ...