The country has witnessed new variants of coronavirus emerge in the last few months amid decline in the number of fresh Covid cases. And as Diwali festival approaches, a highly infectious Omicron sub-variant BF.7 has been detected by the Gujarat Biotechnology Research centre according to some reports, stated news agency IANS. The new Omicron variant is said to have greater transmissibility, added the report.
The Maharashtra health department has warned against a rise in Covid cases, especially during winters and the festive season citing new variants like BA.2.3.20 and BQ.1 reported from the state, according to news agency PTI.
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These variants have been detected for the first time in the country, the health department noted. It also said that the new XBB variant of coronavirus has a growth advantage over BA.2.75 and has immune evasive property.
BF.7 variant & new XBB variant
Omicron sub-variants -- BA.5.1.7 and BF.7 -- after emerging from a region in Mongolia in China have spread to the United States, UK, Australia, and Belgium. Omicron variants BF.7 and BA.5.1.7 is said to be behind the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in China.
China witnessed a rise in Covid cases triggered by BF.7 variant. In fact, World Health Organisation also sent out a warning against the highly infectious BF.7 COVID subvariant. It has also expected the subvariant to become a new dominant variant.
"These are immune escape variants. Ever since Omicron arrived in November 2021, it has been giving off branches which divide into smaller branches. Of these, BA.2 and BA.5 proved to be stronger than the rest," Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, Health Expert and Member Task Force, COVID in Kerala told news agency ANI,
The network of government scientists and labs responsible for genome-sequencing strains of the Covid-19 virus are likely to meet this week to discuss the looming threat in India, reported the news website Mint.
INSACOG is a consortium of 54 laboratories to monitor the genomic variations in SARS-CoV-2.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra has witnessed the emergence of a new variant named XBB.
"The state has reported XBB which is a new variant having a growth advantage over BA.2.75 and immune evasive property. Apart from this, the state has reported BA.2.3.20 and BQ.1 variants first time in India, said the health bulletin on Monday.
Covid-19 cases rose by 17.7 per cent between October 10 and 16 as compared to between October 3 and 9 this year in Maharashtra. The rise in coronavirus infections in the state has been noticed particularly in the densely populated districts of Thane, Raigad and Mumbai, the health bulletin noted.
"Some experts are predicting a rise in the coming winter season especially in the festive environment. In WGS (whole genome sequencing), the proportion of BA.2.75 has decreased to 76 per cent from 95 per cent," the bulletin added.
Is there a need to worry about the new variants?
The health department asked people not to ignore flu-like symptoms, to seek medical advice at the earliest and observe Covid-19 appropriate behaviour in public places. It has also urged people to get vaccinated.
"People with comorbidities need to take extra precautions while visiting public places. Persons suffering with influenza-like illness should avoid public contacts as much as possible, the health bulletin said.
“Elderly and people with severe medical conditions are advised to stay away from such gatherings, as even an Omicron infection is known to destabilise them, leading to severe disease and bad outcomes. India has achieved a high degree of adult vaccination coverage which has, along with immunity due to natural infection, provided a large degree of protection so far," advised Jayadevan.
So far, India has reported different distributions of ‘Variants of Concern’ such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, B.1.6 series, AY series, Omicron Series, XE, XM and XJ since the onset of the pandemic.
There is nothing to panic and surveillance of the situation is underway, official source told news agency ANI.
"Nothing to panic, surveillance is going on, important point is that we should look at hospitalisation, deaths, currently. Despite new Omicron sub-lineages, there is no concern. But precautions must be taken to avoid transmission," the source told the news agency.
Experts have asked people to take precaution and Covid appropriate behaviour ahead of the upcoming festive season to avoid spread of the virus.
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