Cases of an omicron subvariant have popped up in at least 40 countries, including the US. Health officials in California's Santa Clara County confirmed two cases of "stealth omicron," or BA.2, on Tuesday, adding to 11 existing cases in the state as of Monday, reports the San Jose Mercury News. Cases have also been reported in Texas, New Mexico, and Washington state, per USA Today. Here's what we know so far:
- Limited data: Some 8,040 BA.2 sequences have been reported in 40 countries since Nov. 17, with 6,411 of those in Denmark, 530 in India, and 426 in the UK, the UK's Health Security Agency said Friday. However, the AP reports nearly 15,000 genetic sequences of BA.2 have been uploaded to a global data-sharing platform, with 96 of those coming from the US.