It's Official! 67-Yr-Old Man Confirmed As First Case Of Covid XE Variant In Mumbai, Says BMC

His samples were submitted to be sequenced, and the findings, which were released on Saturday, revealed that it was Omicron XE.

The 67-yr-old man is said to be fully vaccinated with Covishied. (Representative Image/ AFP)

New Delhi: Officials stated on Saturday that the first case of coronavirus variant Omicron XE was discovered in Mumbai and verified by the NCDC in Delhi.

Infectee is a 67-year-old man who travelled from Mumbai to Vadodara, Gujarat, on March 12 and developed a minor fever, according to the press release issued by BMC.

His samples were submitted to be sequenced, and the findings, which were released on Saturday, revealed that it was Omicron XE.

He was thoroughly vaccinated with Covishied, is completely asymptomatic and stable, and the search for his contacts is already ongoing.

The news comes just three days after a significant blunder in which a South African female film costume designer was pronounced an Omicron XE infectee, only to be rejected by the Centre afterwards. 

What Is XE Variant?

XE, a sub-variant of Omicron that caused the third wave of Covid-19 this winter, has not before been discovered in India.

The revelation of its finding triggered fears of a new wave of infections in India, where Covid-19 cases have been steadily declining and are already at their lowest level in more than two years.

WHO indicated in an April 5 report that the XE recombinant was being tracked as part of the Omicron variant. According to preliminary estimations, XE has a 1.1 per cent community growth rate advantage (or a 10% transmission advantage) over BA.2. This must, however, be proven.

“The SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to evolve. Given the current high level of transmission worldwide, it is likely that further variants, including recombinants, will continue to emerge. Recombination is common among coronaviruses and is regarded as an expected mutational event," the WHO report reads.