Just as the number of infections started plummeting and it appeared that it would soon be safe to go outside again, health authorities have announced that a more infectious type of the Omicron variant has surged and now accounts for a full one-third of global COVID-19 cases sequenced in recent weeks. Known as BA.2, this strain may extend the length of a new COVID-19 wave. “We’re looking not only at how quickly those peaks go up, but how they come down,†World Health Organization (SHO) epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove told The Wall Street Journal. “And as the decline in cases occurs…we also need to look at: Is there a slowing of that decline? Or will we start to see an increase again?† she continued. Fingers crossed that this is not another huge wave.