New COVID variant could be more transmissible than omicron
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New COVID variant, BA.2, reported in US
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A new COVID variant – labeled as a “variant under investigation” by authorities in the U.K. - has been reported.
The variant, BA.2 has been found in 40 countries, including the U.S., U.K. India, Germany and Australia, is linked to more than 8,000 cases worldwide. According to The Hill, not much is known about the variant, including its transmissibility and severity. It is unclear how current vaccines are responding to the variant.
BA.2 is believed to be a subvariant of the omicron variant, known as BA.1. It has been increasing in countries such as Denmark, Norway and Sweden, where it’s believed to have overtaken the original omicron variant.
Officials in Washington State confirmed two cases of the variant were found earlier this month. It’s believed there are about 100 cases in the U.S.
COVID-19 live updates: WHO warns of rising cases of omicron sub-variant
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New York school mask mandate allowed to remain in effect for now
New York state’s school mask mandate can remain in effect while a challenge to the order plays out in court, after an appellate judge issued a stay Tuesday against a lower court ruling that had struck it down.
“These measures are critical tools to prevent the spread of COVID-19, make schools and businesses safe, and save lives,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement Tuesday after the judge granted the state’s motion to keep the mandate in place. “We will not stop fighting to protect New Yorkers, and we are confident we will continue to prevail.”
A court hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday morning.
At least 20 districts across Long Island had immediately ditched their mask mandates after a judge in Nassau County said Monday that state education officials overstepped their authority when they reinstituted the mask mandate amid a winter surge in coronavirus cases.
The state education department has instructed school districts to keep the mandate in place, requiring all staff and students in pre-K through 12th grade to wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status.
-ABC News’ Aaron Katersky
Covid News: New York Judge Blocks State’s Mask Mandate
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Image Subway passengers wearing masks in Lower Manhattan in December. Credit… Gabby Jones for The New York Times
Read the latest on the ruling on a New York State mask policy.
A New York State judge ruled on Monday that the state’s mask mandate had been enacted unlawfully and is now void, according to court documents.
Gov. Kathy Hochul had renewed a rule requiring masks or proof of vaccination at all indoor public places throughout the state in December, amid a winter virus surge, and said it would last a month. The state Health Department then extended the mandate an additional two weeks, to expire on Feb. 1.
In his six-page decision, State Supreme Court Justice Thomas Rademaker wrote that Ms. Hochul and state health officials lacked the authority to enact the mask mandate without the approval of state lawmakers, and that it violated the state constitution. Regardless of the “well aimed” intentions of state officials, such authority is “entrusted solely to the State Legislature,” Justice Rademaker wrote.
The office of the state attorney general, Letitia James, filed a notice of intent to appeal the ruling on Monday night. Emily DeSantis, a spokeswoman for the state Education Department, said the department had informed its schools that, as the legal issues are resolved, “schools must continue to follow the mask rule.”
We’re appealing last night’s decision that struck down the mask mandate in New York.
We will continue to do everything in our power to protect New Yorkers from #COVID19. — NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 25, 2022
While the ruling overturns the statewide mandate for masks in schools and public places, it does not reverse local mandates. City Hall officials, for example, said that the decision had no immediate impact on New York City’s schools since the city’s education department had its own masking policies in place before the state’s mandate.
Ms. Hochul said in a statement on Monday that her office strongly disagreed with the ruling and would be “pursuing every option to reverse this immediately.”
“My responsibility as governor is to protect New Yorkers throughout this public health crisis, and these measures help prevent the spread of Covid-19 and save lives,” she said.
The Omicron surge has been receding in New York, but it is not over. An average of about 20,000 people in the state are now testing positive for the coronavirus each day, down sharply from the surge’s peak of 90,000 people who tested positive on Jan. 7. The positivity rate has also fallen, by half, from more than 22 percent to 10 percent.
But New York’s daily case numbers remain far higher than at the start of the surge in early December, and hospitals are still straining to treat about 10,000 Covid patients statewide. Hospitalizations have begun declining but remain higher than at any point since May 2020. More than 130 people each day have been dying of the virus statewide.
Justice Rademaker, who has run on the Conservative Party line, was elected to the Supreme Court in Nassau County in 2019. The Supreme Court in New York is the highest trial court in the state, but not the court of last resort; the Court of Appeal is the highest court.
Following his ruling, some schools districts on Long Island began telling parents that masks were optional as of Tuesday morning.
“While it is certain this decision will face legal challenges, until otherwise litigated, mask wearing will be optional for students and staff in the Massapequa Schools beginning Tuesday,” the Massapequa school district posted on its website.
The Lindenhurst school district issued a similar message on Monday night, saying that it would work in accordance with the judge’s decision.
“Until otherwise directed, the wearing of masks will be optional for all students and staff members,” the district posted on Facebook. “We are also aware that this decision will undoubtedly result in an appeal from the state, which could result in the restoration of the mask mandate until the court issues further ruling.”
The ruling was applauded by some New York Republicans, including Representative Elise Stefanik, who said in a statement that it was a “win for small businesses, parents, students, and the freedom of all New Yorkers.”
“Governor Hochul’s authoritarian mandates were crushing New York small businesses that already have faced unprecedented challenges throughout the Covid-19 pandemic,” Ms. Stefanik said. “By forcing masks on the children in our schools, these mandates have impeded the development of our next generation.”
Omicron Is Not the Final Variant - The New York Times
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Each time a new variant of the coronavirus emerges, the world follows a similar pattern. Scientists share the discovery, and panic ensues. Not enough is done between each wave to prevent or prepare for the next one.
Omicron caught much of the world off guard. Not by its existence — that’s what viruses do — but by how contagious it was and how quickly it spread. Countries tried to institute policies in real time that should have been in place much earlier, such as making sure to have enough testing supplies.
As we near the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the world must finally learn from past mistakes. This starts by recognizing that Alpha, Delta and Omicron are not new threats. They are all still the coronavirus. Rather than thrusting our societies into chaos as each new variant emerges, we need to recognize that the virus hasn’t been controlled yet and that nations need better strategies to prepare, detect and respond to future waves. All the knowledge that’s been gained on how to respond to a variant as lethal as Delta or as contagious as Omicron can be put to good use.
SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, will continue to change and produce new variants. This is especially true as long as there are large groups of unvaccinated people around the world whom the virus can easily infect and use as hosts to replicate inside and mutate. Because of this, it’s impossible for a single country to end the pandemic alone.