Covid Update: India Records 1,033 Fresh Infections After Mumbai Detects First Case Of XE Variant

According to the data shared by the Health Ministry, 1,222 patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours increasing the total recoveries to 4,24,98,789.

Mumbai: A medic administers a dose of Covid-19 vaccine to a beneficiary at Nair Hospital, in Mumbai, Wednesday, April 06, 2022. First case of new Covid-19 variant called XE has been detected in Mumbai. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: India has reported over 1000 Covid infections for the third consecutive day. The country has logged 1,033 new cases in the last 24 hours taking the active caseload to 11,639.

According to the data shared by the Health Ministry, 1,222 patients recovered from the virus in the last 24 hours increasing the total recoveries to 4,24,98,789.

The country's recovery rate now stands at 98.76% while active cases amount to 0.03% of the total cases.

This comes after India detected the first case of XE variant of SARS-CoV2 in Mumbai on Wednesday. 

The Mumbai health department said that the patient is a 50-year-old female South African national. She had come to India on February 10. After she was tested on February 27, she was found COVID-19 positive.

Her lab sample has been referred to Kasturba Hospital Central laboratory for genome sequencing.

"It has been found to be a new XE variant in initial sequencing. Though GISAID also confirmed it, INSACOG has decided to go for another round of genomic sequencing at the national laboratory for confirmation of the XE variant," the health department said, as mentioned in the PTI report. 

The patient is asymptomatic and was found to be RT-PCR negative on repeat testing.

"XE new variant is a combination of BA.1 and BA.2 strains of Omicron and found to be responsible for enhanced viral transmission as per the primary reports. Frequent changes in genomic structure are part of the natural life course of the viruses and there is no need to be scared but everyone should opt for appropriate precaution," it said.

Official sources in New Delhi, however, said INSACOG ( Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) experts are conducting a genomic analysis of a coronavirus case reported as that of the highly transmissible XE variant by Mumbai civic officials, though scientific evidence so far does not indicate it to be so.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Wednesday recorded 108 fresh coronavirus positive cases and seven fatalities. With fresh infections, the state's COVID-19 tally rose to 78,74,690 cases and toll to 1,47,800.