Omicron Sub-Variants spread Fast in India; Follow Covid Protocol

TNI Bureau: A new Omicron sub-variant has entered India, raising fears of a fresh wave in the coming months. Omicron’s XBB variant, the recombinant of BA.2.75 and BJ.1, that caused a rapid spike in the number of Covid cases in Singapore, has been detected in India.

The XBB variant is now driving a surge in Covid cases in Maharashtra, Kerala and other states of the country. BA.5.1.7 and BF.7 too have registered their presence in India as reported by Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre.

Till now, eight states have reported cases, with Tamil Nadu having the highest number at 52 followed by 35 cases in Odisha, 18 cases in Maharashtra, West Bengal at 17 cases, Delhi and Karnataka each have 6, Gujarat has 2, while Rajasthan has a single case.

The symptoms of Omicron’s XBB variant are said to be mild and not very dangerous much like its other cousins but due to the massive mutation in its structure, it may increase the number of cases because of which number of hospitalisations may go up, say infectious disease specialists.

XBB variant is reported to have much more mutations that the previous Omicron sub-variants and has mutated in a way that immunity acquired through previous infections and vaccines may not work. This is also causing increase in hospitalisation cases in Singapore.

With the festive season going on, large number of gatherings are happening and with no travel restrictions around, there is a high chance of increase in the positive cases in next 3-4 weeks.

Experts have advised taking all precautions against this highly-infectious strain that almost doubled the cases in Singapore in a matter of few days.