LOS ANGELES, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- New Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 accounted for half of new COVID-19 cases in the United States in the latest week, overtaking BA.5 to be the dominant strains in the country, according to estimates published Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
BQ.1.1 made up about 24.2 percent of circulating variants in the week ending Nov. 19, and BQ.1 was estimated to make up 25.5 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.
The BA.5 accounted for 24 percent of new infections in the latest week, CDC data showed. It is the first time since July that the BA.5 variant has lost its dominance in new infections in the United States. ■