Dr. Scott Gottlieb believes omicron BA.2 subvariant unlikely to cause ‘national wave’ in U.S.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Tuesday that he believes the U.S. this spring will avoid a “national wave” of infection related to the more contagious omicron BA.2 subvariant.

However, the former Food and Drug Administration commissioner said on “Squawk Box” that he thinks cases are being “dramatically” underreported in some parts of the country. Given the reliance on at-home testing now, he estimated that in the Northeast, as few as one in seven or one in eight infections are actually showing up in official case counts.

“I think we’re further into this than we perceive,” Gottlieb said, pointing to Germany and the U.K., where cases have started to decline quickly from their recent, BA.2-related peak.

In the U.S., BA.2 is the dominant version of Covid, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some expect that within two weeks, it may displace the earlier version of omicron, which caused a surge in cases and hospitalizations late last year and into 2022.