Omicron BQ COVID-19 Variants Now Make Up Over Half of US Cases: CDC

A woman carries shopping bags as customers visit the American Mall dream mall during Black Friday in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Nov. 25, 2022. Kena Betancur/Getty Images

The COVID-19 Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 have risen to comprise over half of new coronavirus infections in the United States in the past week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC’s weekly variant update shows that BQ.1.1 has been responsible for 29.4 percent of new closely followed by BQ.1 which accounted for 27.9 percent. Together, the two strains make up 57.3 percent of new coronavirus infections recorded in the United States in the week ending on Nov. 26.