Cases of BQ.1, BQ.1.1 COVID variants double in US as Europe warns of rise - SABC News - Breaking news, special reports, world, business, sport coverage of all South African current events. Africa's news leader.

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US health regulators on Friday estimated that BQ.1 and closely related BQ.1.1 accounted for 16.6% of coronavirus variants in the country, nearly doubling from last week, while Europe expects them to become the dominant variants in a month.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said the variants are likely to drive up cases in the coming weeks to months in the European region.

There is no evidence yet that BQ.1 is linked with increased severity compared with the circulating Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, European officials said, but warned it may evade some immune protection, citing laboratory studies in Asia. In the US, weekly cases have been falling recently, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .

 

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