As COVID mandates ease around LA County, officials are on watch for BA.2 variant

As COVID mandates ease around LA County, officials are on watch for BA.2 variant

“Omicron was milder than delta, on a case-by-case basis, but it killed more people because so many got it,” said Andrew Noymer, [associate professor of public health], an expert in infectious disease and pandemics at UC Irvine. … The bottom line, Noymer said, is that even if we think we’re headed into an endemic phase — COVID-19 is here, and it’s not going away. Even if BA.2 fizzles out, “it’s not going to be omicron forever,” he said. New variants will likely a reality for a long time, experts say. “Living with uncertainty,” Noymer said, “is the name of the game for the time being.”