Western Europe coronavirus surge raises concerns that the U.S. could be next

(Image credit: John MacDougall/AFP/Getty Images)

published 17 March 2022

Western Europe has been hit with a surge in coronavirus infections that is raising concerns that the United States could face another wave of COVID-19 cases, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

Germany, for example, recorded more than 250,000 new cases and 249 deaths on Friday as an Omicron subvariant spread rapidly through the nation of 83 million people. The subvariant, known as BA.2, appears more transmissible than the highly infectious original Omicron variant, BA.1, that fueled the last U.S. wave. China and other Asian countries are also experiencing their worst outbreaks yet, but since the pandemic started, large outbreaks in Europe have been followed by surges in the U.S., and some public health experts are predicting that will happen this time, too.