BQ.1.1 made up nearly 19 per cent of circulating variants and BQ.1 was estimated to make up 16.5 per cent of circulating cases this week, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a report released by the CDC on Friday.

The two new variants have been growing especially fast since October. At the beginning of October, each one accounted for about 1 per cent of new infections in the US, 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.

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