New Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 accounted for nearly half of new COVID-19 cases in the United States in the past week, according to the latest estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Trend reports citing Xinhua.
BQ.1.1 made up nearly 24.1 percent of circulating variants in the week ending Nov. 12, and BQ.1 was estimated to make up 20.1 percent, according to CDC data.
The two new variants have been growing especially fast since October. At the beginning of October, each one accounted for about 1 percent of new infections in the United States, but they have been roughly doubling in prevalence each week.
The two variants are descendants of Omicron's BA.5 subvariant and have been spreading rapidly in Europe.
The predominant Omicron lineage in the United States remains BA.5, which accounted for 29.7 percent of new infections in the latest week, CDC data showed.