The rise of the strain has been rapid and consistent. The “stealth omicron” subvariant — which already was the dominant strain in the U.S. — now accounts for more than 70% of all sampled cases in New Jersey through March 19, according to the state’s latest variant tracker. In early February, stealth omicron (BA.2) made up less than 3% of cases in the Garden State. It accounted for 45.7% in the week ending March 12. For weeks, experts have been predicting that BA.2 — a genetically distinct branch of the omicron variant (BA.1) — would spread until it became the dominant strain in the state and c…
