LOS ANGELES, Nov 5 (NNN-XINHUA) – New Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, accounted for over 35 percent of COVID-19 cases in the United States this week, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
BQ.1.1 made up nearly 19 percent of circulating variants, and BQ.1 was estimated to make up 16.5 percent of circulating cases this week, according to a report released by the CDC, yesterday.
The two new variants have been growing especially fast since Oct. At the beginning of Oct, each one accounted for about one percent of new infections in the United States, but they have been roughly doubling in prevalence each week.
The two variants accounted for about one in four new COVID-19 infections nationwide, last week, CDC data showed.
The two variants are descendants of Omicron’s BA.5 subvariant, and have been spreading rapidly in Europe.– NNN-XINHUA
