Commuters arrive at Waterloo station on Feb. 22 in London. Photo: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images
The highly contagious Omicron subvariant, BA.2, is now the dominant Omicron variant around the world, the World Health Organization said this week.
Driving the news: BA.2 made up about 86% of cases reported to the WHO between Feb. 16 and March 17, the agency said in a report.
- The previously dominant subvariants, BA.1.1 and BA.1, together represent less than 15% of cases globally.
- Less than three weeks ago, BA.2 made up 34% of new cases and the BA.1.1 subvariant of Omicron was dominant, according to a WHO report published on March 8.
- "After a consistent decrease since the end of January 2022, the number of new weekly cases rose for a second consecutive week," the agency wrote in the report out Tuesday.
The big picture: The BA.2 subvariant of Omicron makes up over a third of all COVID-19 variants in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this week.
- The BA.2 subvariant, which is believed to be more transmissible than the original Omicron strain, has spurred a resurgence of new cases in Asia and Europe.
Go deeper: CDC says Omicron subvariant accounts for 35% of all COVID variants in U.S.