Maharashtra: Person With Suspected XE Covid Variant Has Recovered, Says Aaditya Thackeray

XE Covid Variant: The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation on Wednesday claimed that a woman was found to be infected with the new XE Covid variant in Mumbai.

Mumbai on Tuesday reported 56 COVID-19 cases, a three-fold rise from a day earlier (Getty Images)

New Delhi: Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday said the person suspected to be infected by the new XE Covid-19 variant had recovered and her contacts tested negative.

Aaditya Thackeray that the woman's samples had been sent to the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG) for further examination in order to confirm the type of strain.

"Person with suspected new variant has recovered fully and high-risk contacts have been Covid-19 negative. Samples have been sent to NIBMG, to reconfirm the type of strain. We are working to ensure that we are all safe. I urge people to not panic," Aaditya Thackeray tweeted.

On Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the first case of XE, a more transmissible Covid-19 variant, was detected in Mumbai. Hours later, the Union Health Ministry refuted claims that India had reported its first case of XE variant.

"Hours after report of detection of XE variant of Coronavirus in Mumbai, @MoHFW_INDIA has said present evidence does not suggest the presence of the new variant," PIB Maharashtra said in a tweet.

READ | 'XE Variant 10% More Infectious Than Omicron': Maharashtra Health Minister

The Health Ministry said FastQ files in respect of the sample were analysed in detail by genomic experts of INSACOG and they had inferred that the genomic constitution of this variant does not correlate with the genomic picture of 'XE' variant, ANI reported.

In its statement, the BMC said the 50-year-old female patient, a costume designer by profession and a member of a film shooting crew, had arrived from South Africa on February 10, 2022.

The woman is fully vaccinated and has no comorbidities. She tested negative for Covid-19 on arrival in India.

The XE variant is a mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains, referred to as a "recombinant". A BMC official said the XE variant appears to be 10 per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron, which was dominant in the third wave in India.

According to WHO, the XE recombinant variant was first detected in the United Kingdom on January 19 and 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since.