India Reports First Case Of Omicron XE Variant From Mumbai, Fully-Jabbed Woman Infected

The XE variant is said to be a hybrid strain of two Omicron sub-variants - BA.1 and BA.2.

(Representative Image/Getty)

Mumbai: First case of new Covid-19 variant, which is a hybrid mutant strain, called XE has been detected in Mumbai. According to reports, XE variant is said to be a hybrid strain of two Omicron sub-variants - BA.1 and BA.2.

Out of the 376 samples tested, 230 patients from Mumbai were found to be infected with Omicron and one turned positive for the XE variant.

A case of the Kappa variant was also detected during a sero survey, an official said, adding the results came in genome sequencing of 376 samples, the 11th batch of testing in the local genome sequencing lab.

The condition of the patients infected with the new strains of the virus was not serious, the official said.

According to news agency IANS, the patient infected with the XE variant is a woman who works as a costumes designer in Bollywood.

The 50-year-old costumes designer, whose identity has not been disclosed, was part of a film shooting crew which arrived to Mumbai on February 10, the report added.

The woman, who has also been vaccinated with both doses of Comirnaty vaccine, tested positive on March 2.

An analysis of her reports revealed that she was infected with the Covid XE variant, and her condition was described as asymptomatic without comorbidities.

The XE variant was recently traced in the United Kingdom.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a warning against 'XE' variant of Omicron, which may be more transmissible than any strain of Covid-19 seen before.

According to reports, the new variant is 10 per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 subvariant, which is already the most contagious. 

The WHO has also warned that BA.2, which is a subvariant of the Omicron strain, is the most dominant strain of the virus, being 86 per cent of all sequenced cases attributed to it.

While XE only accounts for a small fraction of the cases, its extremely high transmissibility could mean that it becomes the most dominant strain in the near future.

The global health body has recently issued a report outlining their initial findings of this potentially new variant of concern.

"The XE recombinant (BA.1-BA.2), was first detected in the UK on January 19 and less than 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since," the report said.

"Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10 percent as compared to BA.2, however, this finding requires further confirmation," it added.

"WHO continues to closely monitor and assess the public health risk associated with recombinant variants, alongside other SARS-CoV-2 variants, and will provide updates as further evidence becomes available," the report stated further.