New COVID Variant XE In India: No Evidence Yet, Says Central Govt

Mumbai: Hours after Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informed that India’s first case of new COVID-19 variant XE had been detected in the city, the Union health ministry said “present evidence does not suggest the presence of the new variant”.

A fully vaccinated 50-year-old woman, who travelled from South Africa in February, had been identified as the first person to be infected with XE strain of coronavirus.

However, Press Information Bureau of Maharashtra later tweeted: “FastQ files in respect of the sample, which is being said to be #XEVariant were analysed in detail by genomic experts of INSACOG who have inferred that the genomic constitution of this variant does not correlate with the genomic picture of ‘XE’ variant.”

The XE variant, which was first detected in the UK recently, could be 10 per cent more transmissible than other Omicron mutations, according to World Health Organization.

According to COVID-19 task force member Dr Shashank Joshi, there is no need to panic on XE variant.

“As it is a mutation of Omicron, which doesn’t involve lungs, it is believed that the XE variant will not cause severe infection. But there is a need to use masks, especially at crowded places,” he said.

India, which reported 1,086 fresh coronavirus infections and 71 deaths on Wednesday, has decided to end all COVID-19 containment measures.