WHO has warned of a new, even more transmissible mutant strain of Covid-19 called the ‘XE† It is a hybrid of two variants of Omicron – BA.1 and BA.2. According to preliminary observations, the new variant is faster than the previous mutants. According to WHO data, there have been only 600 XE cases so far and are unlikely to trigger a Covid wave. At the moment, however, nothing is certain. More studies will confirm the vulnerability of the population to the new recombinant mutant.
XE Omicron may be the most transmissible variant yet, according to WHO
Just as we get used to BA.2, comes Omicron XE, a recombinant of B.1 and BA.2. It is ~10% more transferable than BA.2 and now accounts for 1% of UK sequences.— Professor Adrian Esterman (@profesterman) Apr 2, 2022
Rakesh Mishra, Director, Tata Institute for Genetics And Society (TIGS) in conversation with ANI stated: that there is not enough data to confirm that the new variant could trigger a Covid wave in the Indian subcontinent. However, this should not mean that people are becoming negligent and careless (as they did in the past two Covid waves!). Mishra lamented the fact that certain sections of society are all too eager to declare that the pandemic is over.
The new variant was found in the UK† XE is 30% more contagious than the BA.1 variant. New cases have been sequenced in the U.S also. In addition to the XE variant, there are two more. Dubbed XD and XF, the other two subvariants are combinations of Delta and BA.1 strains. Delta and BA.1 are also referred to as the Deltacron variants.
The latest Indian census of fresh Covid cases is 1,260 in the last 24 hours. Data from the Union Health Ministry shows that the number of active cases has now fallen to 13,445. While the current recovery rate is 98.76 percent.
#LeftRightCenter † WHO’s Chief Scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, on New #Covid variant XE found in UK#NDTVExclusive pic.twitter.com/W1BBjvdBN3
— NDTV (@ndtv) Apr 2, 2022
However, TIGS Director Rakesh Mishra notes that the general population should continue to follow pandemic protocols. Sabse pehle you must Mask Up! Because you never know!
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