FIRST CASE OF COVID-19 VARIANT “XE” REPORTED FROM MUMBAI

Mumbai (The Quiver) : Not long after World Health Organisation(WHO) warnings regarding the new covid-19 variant XE . Today, India reported its first case of coronavirus variant XE from Mumbai ,the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has said in a media release. A 50 year woman is known to be infected with new Covid-19 variant XE , she had returned from South Africa on February 10.

The patients with the new variants of the virus are not detected with any severe symptoms so far  but the new mutant may be more transmissible than any strain of COVID-19, warned World Health Organisation had said last week. The World Health Organisation had said that the new mutation XE appears to be 10 per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron.

Covid-19 new strain, XE was detected in the UK at the starting of the new year. Britain’s health agency said on April 3 that XE was first detected on January 19 and 637 cases of the new variant have been reported in the country so far.

XE is a “recombinant” which is a mutation of BA’1 and BA.2 Omicron strains. Recombinant mutations attacks when a patient is infected by multiple variants of Covid-19 virus . The variants mix up their genetic material during replication and form a new mutation, UK experts mentioned in a paper published in British Medical Journal.

In India , out of the 230 Mumbai patients whose samples were sent for genome sequencing, 228 are tested positive for Omicron, one Kappa and one XE. 21 of the total 230 patients were hospitalized, though none of them needed oxygen or intensive care. 12 of those hospitalized were not vaccinated and nine had taken both doses. 

It is evident that Maharashtra government had taken decision to uplift all covid-19 related restrictions from April 2 . Today the first case XE covid-19 variant is detected in the country, if the government of India deal this situation with such casual approach then soon India will face the same fate of past two years. Already, China’s major financial centre , Shanghai is under COVID-19 attack. Severe Covid-19 outbreak in the place made 26 million people to remain in lockdown.