First BA.4 COVID-19 Subvariant Cases Found In FL: Lab

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FL — The contagious COVID-19 subvariant BA.4 has been found in Florida for the first time.

The first three cases were identified at Premier Medical Laboratory Services over the weekend in samples from patients in Miami-Dade County, according to a news release from the South Carolina-based medical diagnostics lab.

No other information about these patients, such as their age, gender or city, were provided by the facility, which uses Next Generation Sequencing on about 40,000 samples weekly to identify novel variants in the U.S.

The infectious BA.4 and BA.5 viruses, both subvariants of Omicron, have emerged in recent months. They were first detected in South Africa and made their way to the U.S. in March, according to CNN.

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South African scientists found that the subvariants are immune to antibodies and can infect those who previously were sick with Omicron and those who are vaccinated, Reuters reported.

A study by Dr. David Ho, a Columbia University professor of microbiology and immunology, determined that the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are more than four times as likely to evade antibodies than the BA.2 viruses, reports said.

According to CDC data, BA.5 accounted for about 7.6 percent of all COVID cases in the U.S. from May 29 to June 4, while BA.4 accounted for about 5.4 percent of cases during this period.

In region four, which includes Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, B.A. 5 subvariant accounted for 9.1 percent of all coronavirus cases during this time and BA.4 accounted for 3.9 percent of the cases.

The detection of the BA.4 variant in Florida comes at a time when coronavirus cases are surging again. As of Tuesday, 24 counties in the state were labeled a high risk for COVID-19 spread:

• Hillsborough
• Pinellas
• Manatee
• Sarasota
• Polk
• Pasco
• Orange
• Seminole
• Flagler
• Volusia
• Miami-Dade
• Brevard
• Indian River
• Charlotte
• Palm Beach
• Monroe
• Sumter
• Lake
• Seminole
• Osceola
• St. Lucie
• Martin
• Broward
• Alachua

According to the Florida Department of Health, positive cases have increased across Florida by 16 percent in the last two weeks; COVID-related deaths have increased by 29 percent.

While the surge in COVID-19 cases is likely due to BA.4 and BA.5, health experts are not expecting an increase in the severity of infections or resulting deaths, according to Premier’s news release.

But Dr. Ho told CNN that “it’s a serious threat” due to its transmissibility, adding, “Only a month ago, (the two subvariants represented) .02 percent” of COVID-19 cases in the nation.

He expects that many Americans will sick in the coming weeks and months as the subvariants spread, noting, “I think we will see lots of infections but not necessarily more severe disease or deaths.”