A new variant of Covid omicron called BA.2 could lead to more cases of domestic coronaviruses, according to U.S. health experts.
White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said that BA.2 is more transmissible than omicron, but it does not appear to be more severe. coronaviruses vaccines and boosters are the best ways to prevent serious illness from the virus, according to health officials.
Fauci said on ABC's This Week that it has increased transmission capability.
The variant has caused cases to increase in China and parts of Europe. It is estimated to account for 25% or 30% of new cases in the U.S., but it could become the country's most dominant variant, Fauci said.
Fauci said he expects an increase in cases due to BA.2, but not a huge surge like other variant have caused. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently relaxed mask recommendations for most Americans.
The Surgeon General of the U.S. and a former head of the Food and Drug Administration expressed similar views on Sunday.
The country is in a better position now than it was two years ago, when Covid-19 defined our lives.
Murthy said during Fox News Sunday that Covid hasn't gone away.
Gottlieb said he expects some increase due to BA.2 but not a big wave of infections.
I think we're going to see low levels of infections through the summer. Gottlieb said that before we get there, we're probably going to see some tick-up of infections like the Europeans are seeing.
There were more than 30,000 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday. Both are down from the beginning of the year.
Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC contributor and is a member of the boards of Pfizer, Tempus, Aetion and Illumina. He is co-chair of Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean's healthy sail panel.
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