The more transmissible version of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus known as BA.2 now accounts for about 30 percent of new cases in New York City, health officials said, according to a report in The New York Times.
New cases of the virus had been declining sharply since early January, when the surge that started the month before began to plummet from a peak of more than 40,000 average daily cases, leaving a relatively low death toll. But cases have been increasing in recent days, officials said
As of mid-March, an average of 905 cases per day were reported in New York City, a 35 percent increase from the average of less than 700 earlier in the month. The BA.2 variant is about 30% more infectious than the prior BA.1 version of Omicron strain of the Coronavirus.