Focus on these new names: BQ1 and BQ1.1.  They are two of the hundreds of subvariants of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus behind COVID-19 that the World Health Organization is tracking.  

These subvariants have shown up in Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, France, Belgium, New Zealand, Denmark and Italy.  And serious COVID-19 cases are rising around the world, just not in the U.S. yet. But we have been down this road before and we know, by now, where it is likely to lead.

The U.S. should prepare for a spike in COVID cases this winter as more people gather indoors and infections already begin to rise in Europe, White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha says.

The warning echoes that of some other experts who anticipate a rise in cases in the coming months, while other modelling suggests that infections will recede in the near future.

A new coronavirus variant BQ.1 and its sibling BQ1.1. are steadily accounting for more infections in the United States, spurring some concern that it may help fuel a resurgence in cases this winter.

BQ.1 and BQ1.1., which both descend from BA.5, an omicron subvariant that accounts for over 67% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., now make up roughly 11% of infections and are closing in on becoming the second-most dominant variant in the U.S., a rate at which Biden chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said is "pretty troublesome."