HARTFORD, Conn. (WCBS 880) — Connecticut has reported its first case of the "stealth omicron" subvariant, which scientists call BA.2.
The sub-variant, which gets its name "stealth" because particular genetic traits make it somewhat harder to detect, appears to spread more easily than the original version of omicron, known as BA.1, according to preliminary findings in South Africa and Europe.
One case has been detected in Fairfield County and doctors expect more.
The sample was collected on Jan. 8., Nathan Grubaugh, an associate professor at the Yale School of Public Health, tweeted this week.
Grubaugh said BA.2 is more transmissible than BA.1 and believes it "likely will become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 in the US," noting that it became the "dominant lineage" in Denmark in about a month's time and is rising quickly in other European countries.
Despite that, Grubaugh said he does not believe that "stealth omicron" will lead to a significant resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
"While it's more transmissible than BA.1, there is a lot of recent population immunity from the BA.1 wave, and hopefully not as many susceptible people to infect," Grubaugh said.
So far, Grubaugh said 100 cases of BA.2 have been sequenced in the U.S., including 10 from Massachusetts and four from New York.
Omicron first turned up in South Africa in November and by December started fueling a surge of coronavirus cases in the United States.
Epidemiologists will need time to determine just how virulent "stealth" is and if the current vaccines offer protection.
In the meantime, Connecticut will test wastewater for evidence of the new subvariant.
Connecticut's COVID-19 numbers continue to improve with the daily positivity rate down to about 10% and there are fewer patients in hospitals.
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