The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated on Friday that Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 account for nearly half of the COVID-19 cases in the country for the week ending Nov. 19, compared with 39.5 per cent in the previous week.
The proportion of the two variants, which are descendants of Omicron's BA.5 sub-variant, have risen to 49.7 per cent of circulating coronavirus variants, around two months after they were initially detected.
BQ.1.1 made up nearly of 24.2 per cent of circulating variants and BQ.1 was estimated to make up 25.5 per cent of circulating cases in the week of Nov. 19, the U.S. CDC said.There is no evidence yet that BQ.1 is linked with increased severity compared with the circulating Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said, but warned it may evade some immune protection, citing laboratory studies in Asia.
New variants are monitored closely by regulators and vaccine manufacturers in case they start to evade protection offered by current shots. The BA.5 subvariant that drove the COVID-19 cases earlier in the year is estimated to make up 24 per cent of cases, compared with nearly 33.8 per cent in the week ended Nov. 12.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
CDC drops self-isolation requirements for COVID-19Previous changes to COVID\u002D19 protocols have been accompanied by formal announcements and news releases detailing the changes.
Read more »
China's Guangzhou locks down millions in 'zero-COVID' fightThe southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou locked down its largest district Monday as it tries to tamp down a major COVID\u002D19 outbreak.
Read more »
Premarket: World stocks tumble on Chinese COVID outbreaksFresh COVID-19 restrictions in China again raise concerns about the global economic outlook
Read more »
China announces 1st COVID-19 death in almost 6 monthsChina on Sunday announced its first new death from COVID-19 in nearly half a year as strict new measures are imposed in Beijing and across the country to ward against new outbreaks.
Read more »