LOS ANGELES — The rise of new coronavirus subvariants is continuing to erode the grip the omicron strain BA.5 has held for months, worrying health officials that a winter resurgence of COVID-19 may be ahead.
Eating into BA.5’s long-running dominance are a pair of its own descendants: BQ.1 and BQ.1.1. Like BA.5, the two are subvariants of the original omicron coronavirus strain that walloped the world last fall and winter.
According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, BA.5 has long accounted for the vast majority of new coronavirus cases nationwide. That these two other strains are increasing in their respective share of cases, however, could indicate they enjoy an additional growth advantage.
