New BA-4/BA-5 COVID-19 Variants are Extremely Easy to Catch

Monday, July 11th, 2022 -- 12:01 PM

(Bob Hague, WRN) New variants of COVID-19 are reminding us that the pandemic is not over.

UW Health’s Chief Quality Officer Dr. Jeff Pothof says two new variants are much more transmissible, even among those fully vaccinated or with prior infection. “It's really easy to catch COVID-19 with, you know, BA-5 or BA-4.”

So far deaths and hospitalizations have not increased in Wisconsin. “But even you know, what we call mild illness with COVID-19, it's not so mild. It's like a really bad case of the flu.”

Dr. Pothof says the BA-5 and BA-4 variants are much more transmissible, even among those fully vaccinated or with prior infection. "With these variants that are so contagious, it really probably comes down to a matter of, you know, minutes, or maybe even seconds of being in close proximity to someone who's shutting this virus for you to get infected.”

Potof says people who are immunocompromised, or who just don’t want to get sick, may want to mask in public spaces and avoid crowded indoor settings.

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