Orange County’s COVID hospitalizations holding steady

The BA.2 subvariant will likely fuel another surge, but the size of it is difficult to handicap, according to Andrew Noymer, an epidemiologist and UC Irvine [associate] professor [of public health].  BA.2 is 50% more contagious than Delta, Noymer said. But many unvaccinated people tend to be younger and more able to shrug off an infection, Noymer said.  “Very few of the seniors in Orange County are totally unvaccinated, so I’m not expecting a huge wave of mortality with BA.2,” Noymer said. “I’m not expecting a big wave of hospitalizations in the next four weeks either.”