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Tuesday

BA.5: The Omicron Subvariant Driving Up Cases — And Reinfections

On Wednesday, May 4th, 2022 a mix of masked and unmasked individuals shop at the Portland Farmers Market in Shemanski Park in Portland, OR. Leah Nash/The Washington Post / Getty Images hide caption

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Leah Nash/The Washington Post / Getty Images

Short Wave

BA.5: The Omicron Subvariant Driving Up Cases — And Reinfections

BA.5 is now the dominant SARS-CoV-2 subvariant in the United States. It's driving up COVID cases and hospitalizations across the country.

BA.5: The Omicron Subvariant Driving Up Cases — And Reinfections

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Monday

A new dominant omicron strain in the U.S. is driving up cases — and reinfections

A Covid-19 testing site stands on a Brooklyn street corner in April. Spencer Platt/Getty Images hide caption

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Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The Coronavirus Crisis

A new dominant omicron strain in the U.S. is driving up cases — and reinfections

BA.5 is now the dominant omicron strain in the U.S. It's good at evading the immune system, though doesn't appear to cause more serious illness.

A new dominant omicron strain in the U.S. is driving up cases — and reinfections

Listen · 3:44
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  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1110804098/1110804747" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript