New COVID Subvariants Take Over the U.S.
The coronavirus continues to mutate rapidly. In the latter half of August, the BA.5 subvariant made up more than 85 percent of COVID-19 infections in the U.S. Now, just three months later, BA.5 accounts for just under one-quarter of cases while BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are responsible for nearly half of infections in the country, according to latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Because the BQ variants are new, more research is needed to determine exactly how harmful they may be. Evidence so far suggests they spread easily but cause milder illness that the original and delta strains of the virus.As the BQ variants have grown, so have the latest COVID-19 numbers. Analysis from The New York Times shows that the daily average of cases has increased by…