Covid-19 variants BQ.1, BQ 1.1 make up 16.6% of cases in the US: CDC

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday estimated that BQ.1 and closely related BQ.1.1 make up for 16.6% of the total circulating coronavirus variants in the United States, nearly doubling from last week.
 

The variants have spread quickly in the country in the last few weeks, particularly in New York.
 

The CDC said on Friday that BQ.1 last week was estimated to make up 5.8% of circulating variants, while BQ.1.1 had made up 3.6% of all variants.
 

The two variants are descendants of Omicron's BA.5 subvariant, which is the dominant form of COVID-19 in the country.