New Delhi: First case of new sub variant of Omicron, XE, has been reported from Gujarat’s Vadodra on Saturday, reports news agency PTI. The sub variant was detected in a person from Mumbai who tested positive in Vadodra, said an official, quoted by the news agency.
1,150 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in India on Saturday with active caseload at 11,365.
COVID-19: Gujarat detects its first case of Omicron’s new sub-variant XE as man from Mumbai tests positive in Vadodara: Official
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 9, 2022
On Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had said that the first case of Omicron’s XE variant has been detected in Mumbai. In its statement the BMC had said that the 50-year-old female patient, a costume designer by profession and a member of a film shooting crew, had arrived from South Africa on February 10, 2022.
Hours later, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare denied any such claims that India has reported its first case of XE sub-variant. “Hours after the report of detection of XE variant of Coronavirus in Mumbai, @MoHFW_INDIA has said present evidence does not suggest the presence of the new variant,” PIB Maharashtra said in a tweet.
Maharashtra Minister Aditya Thackeray on Thursday had said that the person had recovered and that her contacts have tested negative.
The XE variant is a mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains, referred to as a “recombinant”. A BMC official said the XE variant appears to be 10 per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicronwhich was dominant in the third wave in India.
According to WHO, the XE recombinant variant was first detected in the United Kingdom on January 19 and 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since.
Check out below Health Tools-
Calculate Your Body Mass Index ( BMI )