Quoting last Friday’s Twin Cities Covid 19 surveillance report, Star Tribune writes that the virus load in the metro wastewater has increased by 36% as well as presence of the BA.2.75 Covid variant in the state. State “health officials didn’t rule out the start of a new fall COVID-19 wave following the social interactions of the Minnesota State Fair and Labor Day weekend,” writes the Tribune.

While receiving his Moderna booster shot, Gov. Tim Walz quoted saying “This is the best defense about keeping folks out of the hospital. It’s the best defense if we … see a surge in the fall”.

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, genomic sequencing of sample specimens, six infections have been identified with the variant.

Dan Huff, state assistant health commissioner, told Tribune “BA.2.75 is in the omicron lineage of coronavirus subvariants, making it ‘more similar‘ to the new booster and more likely that the shot will still offer elevated protection. It’s really about charging your immune system so that it can recognize the coronavirus. So it’s still effective, although it’s going to be more effective against BA.4/BA.5.”

The Tribune writes “While omicron variants spread quickly, they have proven less severe than other variants such as delta — which caused a prolonged COVID-19 wave last fall that increased the rate of deaths among younger, mostly unvaccinated adults in Minnesota”.