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What we know about BA.2 — now the dominant cause of Covid-19 in the US | CNN

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What we know about BA.2 — now the dominant cause of Covid-19 in the US | CNN



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The extremely contagious Omicron subvariant BA.2 is now the dominant coronavirus pressure in the US, inflicting greater than half of all Covid-19 infections final week, the US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention stated Tuesday.

The brand new numbers come from the CDC’s genomic surveillance. Primarily based on its fashions, the company says that BA.2 brought on between 51% and 59% of all new Covid-19 infections within the US the week ending March 26, up from an estimated 39% of all new infections the week earlier than.

The toughest-hit area was the Northeast, the place BA.2 brought on greater than 70% of all circumstances. The South and Mountain West noticed the fewest circumstances. BA.2 brought on barely greater than one-third of infections in these areas final week.

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Although BA.2 continues to be simply taking the stage within the US, it has had outstanding runs in lots of different elements of the world, together with Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific, and is winding down its European tour.

In response to the World Well being Group, BA.2 can be the principle explanation for Covid-19 globally, out-muscling two different Omicron lineages, BA.1 and BA 1.1, to change into the dominant pressure. Since its takeover, worldwide case counts – which had been declining because the first week of January – have been rising once more.

Within the UK, which has a extra extremely vaccinated inhabitants than the US, a mix of lifted restrictions, waning immunity and an much more contagious model of the virus have created a brand new BA.2 wave. Covid-19 circumstances, hospitalizations and deaths have been trending upward because the finish of February, and now, the weekly common of recent circumstances stands about the place it was on the finish of January.

BA.2 infections haven’t reached the peaks seen with BA.1, nonetheless. Case counts seem like leveling off within the UK, although hospitalizations and deaths are nonetheless rising.

All through the pandemic, the US has adopted the UK by about three weeks, so when circumstances started rising there, well being officers right here took discover.

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In America, BA.2 has been gaining steam because the finish of January, and case numbers have plateaued. That flattening conceals regional variations, nonetheless. In 13 states, weekly common numbers of recent circumstances are rising, they usually have stopped falling in 14 others, in line with knowledge collected by Johns Hopkins College.

It’s nonetheless not clear what this subvariant will do within the US. Even specialists don’t precisely know what to anticipate.

“We’re not immune from what occurs in Europe,” stated former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, who’s now president and CEO of the nonprofit Resolve to Save Lives.

“In Europe, you see BA.2 turning into predominant and driving a resurgence, and the probability that won’t occur within the US is fairly low, actually,” Frieden stated. “I do assume a part of the explanation that we’re plateauing is that we’re about to start out going up once more.”

Frieden doesn’t assume it’s a coincidence that the US Meals and Drug Administration approved further booster photographs for Individuals who’re 50 and older on Tuesday, the identical day the CDC estimated that BA.2 was dominant.

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Nevertheless it’s anybody’s guess how excessive circumstances will go, whether or not numerous individuals will want hospital care, and whether or not the nation will proceed to see breathtaking numbers of deaths.

Most predictions about BA.2 within the US haven’t been dire.

The College of Washington’s Institute for Well being Metrics and Analysis’s Covid-19 projections, up to date final week, predict that BA.2 won’t drive one other surge within the US.

However they are saying we might even see one thing like what occurred in South Africa, the place BA.2 quietly changed its cousin BA.1 as the principle explanation for Covid-19 infections – with no rise in circumstances or deaths. As a substitute, it drew out Omicron’s descent, inflicting a protracted tail.

Michael Osterholm, who directs the College of Minnesota’s Heart for Infectious Illness Analysis and Coverage, known as the coronavirus ready recreation we play each few months “a well-recognized uncertainty.” He devoted his newest podcast to “all of us who stay confused about what the quick or intermediate future appears to be like like with Covid.”

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There are a number of the explanation why it’s exhausting to know what BA.2 could do. The CDC estimates that 37 million Individuals – about 1 in 11 – received Covid-19 over the winter, in the course of the first Omicron wave. Many extra have immunity from vaccination and boosters. So, primarily based on random blood samples, the CDC says that 95% of Individuals could now have a point of immunity from Covid-19.

Dr. Jorge Salinas, an infectious illness professional at Stanford College, calls this an immunologic wall.

“That provides us some safety towards future surges,” he stated. “Nonetheless, that wall deteriorates with time. The longer it goes after a wave or after vaccination, the larger the decay of the wall.”

Research have decided decided that BA.2 evades our vaccinations about in addition to unique Omicron did, so boosters are wanted to revive protections towards these variants. However lower than half the US inhabitants 12 and older has had a beneficial third dose.

Of best concern are adults over 65, as a result of they’re principally more likely to change into severely unwell with Covid-19. One out of three individuals over 65 within the US hasn’t had a essential third vaccine dose.

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“The actual downside is that a lot of our inhabitants is undervaccinated seniors,” Frieden stated. “That’s our Achilles heel.”

The opposite variable is discovered within the virus itself.

Omicron threw our immune defenses for a loop. It was so totally different from the coronavirus strains that got here earlier than that many individuals who’d gotten sick with Delta or different early strains discovered themselves contaminated once more.

BA.2 has about 40 amino acid adjustments from Omicron’s BA.1, making it about as totally different from its cousin as Alpha, Beta and Delta had been from one another. Some have questioned whether or not BA.2 might reinfect individuals who’d had BA.1.

A big research from Denmark means that these sorts of reinfections are doable however uncommon.

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The analysis on greater than 1.8 million infections discovered just one,739 circumstances by which individuals examined optimistic for Covid-19 twice inside a two-month window. Of these, 47 had been BA.1 infections that had been adopted by BA.2.

When researchers seemed extra intently, they discovered that these kinds of reinfections tended to occur to younger and unvaccinated individuals, principally kids. And their signs tended to be gentle.

The research was posted as a preprint, which means that it has not but been scrutinized by exterior specialists and revealed in a medical journal.

BA.2 is exceedingly contagious. Some epidemiologists have said its primary replica quantity could also be as excessive as 12, which means every sick particular person infects a median of 12 others. That will put it on par with measles, which additionally spreads via the air. The essential replica quantity for BA.1 is estimated to be about 8.

In a preprint research from Sweden, researchers measured viral ranges in swabs from the again of the nasal cavity. They discovered practically twice as a lot viral RNA in samples from BA.2 sufferers than in those that examined optimistic for BA.1, “pointing to a considerable distinction in viral load.”

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Viral hundreds had been about the identical for Delta and BA.1 infections, they stated, “whereas the rise in viral load in BA.2 circumstances was stunning.”

One other preprint research from Qatar picked up this distinction, too.

Laith Abu-Raddad, a professor of inhabitants sciences at Weill Cornell Medication-Qatar, has been learning the effectiveness of vaccines and boosters towards BA.1 and BA.2. A serious distinction between the 2 infections is an individual’s viral load, he stated.

“It’s positively method increased” with BA.2 over BA.1, he stated. His research discovered it to be “virtually 10-fold increased.”

As a substitute of going deeply into the lungs, the best way Delta did, the Omicron strains appear rather more targeted on the higher respiratory tract, the place the nostril meets the again of the throat, Abu-Raddad stated.

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He thinks that as a result of the an infection concentrates there, that additionally helps it unfold effectively when individuals discuss, cough or sneeze.

Maybe one brilliant spot within the BA.2 image could also be severity.

Though research in animals have instructed that BA.2 an infection wasn’t totally gentle, knowledge on human infections from the UK, Denmark and South Africa reveals that BA.2 isn’t extra more likely to end in hospitalization in comparison with BA.1.

This week, the UK Well being Safety Company up to date its knowledge on vaccine effectiveness towards BA.2. As much as 14 weeks, boosters had been nonetheless 90% efficient at stopping extreme illness in individuals over the age of 65, pointing to an necessary method to ensure BA.2 doesn’t lay us low.

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Senate Democrats pave way for vote on bill to avert US government shutdown

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Senate Democrats pave way for vote on bill to avert US government shutdown

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A Republican bill to avert a US government shutdown cleared a crucial procedural hurdle on Friday afternoon after Senate Democrats paved the way for its passage.

The Senate voted 62-38 in favour of advancing the measure, which will fund the federal government through to September 30. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and a handful of other Democrats sided with Republicans in pushing the so-called continuing resolution forward.

Republicans control the Senate, but required a “supermajority” to overcome a potential filibuster. The chamber is expected to vote on the bill, which was passed in the House of Representatives earlier this week, later on Friday, and will now only require a simple majority to send it to President Donald Trump’s desk for signing.

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One Republican, Rand Paul, opposed bringing the bill to a vote.

The final vote will cap a week of tense talks among Democrats, who struggled to unify behind a strategy for negotiating with Republicans. Though they control both chambers of Congress, Republicans lack a supermajority and needed help from across the aisle to bring the bill to a vote.

The Republican bill includes provisions Democrats are unhappy with. Some Democratic lawmakers expressed concerns that it hands Trump too much room to enact his agenda over the next six months. Still, Democrats did not want to be blamed for a government shutdown, which the president and Republicans made clear they would do.

Schumer had initially pushed back strongly against the stop-gap bill but reversed his stance and helped to convince others in his caucus to vote in favour of the measure.

There was a risk that Trump and close adviser Elon Musk would use a shutdown as an executive power grab, Schumer argued, noting that Musk and his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (Doge) could speed up their cost-cutting frenzy with fewer checks on their power.

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Trump praised Schumer for the move: “I have great respect, by the way, for what Schumer did today,” he said in remarks at the justice department. “He went out and he said that they have to vote with the Republicans because it’s the right thing to do. I couldn’t believe what I heard, but . . . I think he’s going to get some credit for it.”

Schumer’s support for the bill paved the way for other Senate Democrats to follow suit, but he was criticised by some in the party for doing so, particularly in the House.

Ahead of the vote on Friday, Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, said his caucus was “strongly opposed to the partisan Republican spending bill”, saying Trump and Musk presented a “false choice” between the stop-gap and a government shutdown. But Jeffries declined to say whether he had lost confidence in Schumer.

Democrat representative Nancy Pelosi, former House Speaker, also took a swipe at Schumer before the vote. “Let’s be clear: neither is a good option for the American people. But this false choice that some are buying instead of fighting is unacceptable.”

Progressive Democrat representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said on Thursday that “I hope Senate Democrats understand there is nothing clever about” their move. “Those games won’t fool anyone.”

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Mid-March Severe Weather Outbreak Map Tracker | Weather.com

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Mid-March Severe Weather Outbreak Map Tracker | Weather.com
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NEW: High Risk Tornado Threat This Weekend

A severe weather outbreak is underway across parts of the Midwest, South and East. Tornadoes, some of which could be strong, widespread damaging winds and large hail are possible.

On this page, you’ll find maps below that will help to track the severe weather outbreak as it unfolds. Check back throughout the event, as these maps will update frequently with the latest information.

(MORE: Full Severe Weather Forecast)

Radar, Watches And Warnings

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(Watches and warnings are issued by the National Weather Service.)

Severe Weather Outlooks

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Friday-Friday Night’s Severe Thunderstorm Forecast

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Saturday-Saturday Night’s Severe Thunderstorm Forecast

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Sunday-Sunday Night’s Severe Thunderstorm Forecast

Latest Storm Reports

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Severe Thunderstorm Reports

(These are initial reports of tornadoes, large hail, and high winds or wind damage from thunderstorms. Note: The number of tornadoes is often not known immediately following a severe event. The number of tornado reports, therefore, doesn’t necessarily correlate to the number of actual tornadoes, which are later confirmed by NWS storm surveys. )

Dew Points

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Current Dew Points

(This map shows where moisture levels near the ground are higher, using the dew point. More moisture near the ground tends to be more favorable for severe thunderstorms, all other factors equal. )

Temperatures

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(This map shows current temperatures across the U.S. Warmer air near the ground tends to be more favorable for severe thunderstorms, all other factors equal. )

Instability (CAPE)

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Atmospheric Instability, Satellite Image

(This map shows areas of unstable air (contours), along with the latest satellite image. More unstable air is more favorable for the development of severe thunderstorms, all other factors equal. )

Wind Shear

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Wind Shear

(This map shows winds near the ground (red arrows) and in the mid-levels of the atmosphere (blue arrows). Where these arrows cross at larger angles indicate areas of stronger deep-layer wind shear that are more supportive of severe thunderstorms, all other factors equal. )

Current Winds

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Typical March Tornado Threat Area

Average March tornado risk in the U.S., with greater threat areas shown by the darker contours.

Caitlin Kaiser graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with both an undergraduate and graduate degree in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences before starting her career as a digital meteorologist with weather.com.

Morning Brief|

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Plane Fire at Denver Airport Forces Passengers to Evacuate Onto Wing

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Plane Fire at Denver Airport Forces Passengers to Evacuate Onto Wing

An American Airlines plane that was diverted to Denver International Airport on Thursday evening after experiencing “engine vibrations” caught fire while taxiing to a gate, prompting the evacuation of dozens of passengers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Twelve people were taken to hospitals, all with minor injuries, said Michael Konopasek, a spokesman for the airport.

The flight, a Boeing 737-800 with 172 passengers and six crew members, was traveling from Colorado Springs to Dallas but was diverted to the Denver airport, the airline said. Some of the passengers were evacuated from the aircraft using slides, the F.A.A. said.

“After landing safely and taxiing to the gate at Denver International Airport, American Airlines Flight 1006 experienced an engine-related issue,” the airline said.

Videos posted to social media showed passengers standing on the plane’s wing and climbing down a portable staircase to leave the plane. Light gray smoke filled the air. From other angles, black smoke poured out of the aircraft and orange flames could be seen at the base of the aircraft.

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A video taken by Mike Insalata, a Denver resident, showed a large fire under the plane’s right engine. The F.AA. is investigating.

The episode at Denver International Airport was the latest in a recent string of aviation woes. On Feb. 25, two separate airplanes, one at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport and another at Chicago’s Midway International Airport, had to abort landings to avoid collisions.

Earlier last month, a plane at the Toronto Pearson Airport flipped over. And on Feb. 5, the wing of a plane was impaled on the tail of another plane during a collision on the ground at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

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