Omicron sub-variant BA.2.75 detected in India, Centre says closely following its clinical behaviour
NEW DELHI: A new sub-lineage BA.2.75 of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has been detected in countries such as India and the World Health Organisation (WHO) is following this, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Confirming that Omicron sub-variant BA.2.75 has been detected in India, Dr N K Arora, chairperson of the Covid working group, National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), said, India is "closely following its clinical and epidemiological behaviour."
In his weekly media briefing, Ghebreyesus said, “On COVID-19, globally reported cases have increased nearly 30 per cent over the past two weeks. Four of six WHO subregions saw cases increase in the last week.”
“In Europe and America, BA.4 and BA.5 are driving waves. In countries like India, a new sub-lineage of BA.2.75 has also been detected, which we're following,” he said.
The confirmation from WHO came days after an Israeli scientist flagged a new sub-lineage of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in India.
WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said in a video posted on Twitter that there has been an emergence of a sub-variant called the BA.2.75 “first reported from India and then from about ten other countries.”
She said there are still limited sequences available of the sub-variant to analyse, “but this sub-variant seems to have a few mutations on the receptor-binding domain of the spike protein. So obviously, that's a vital part of the virus that attaches itself to the human receptor.
“So we have to watch that. It's still too early to know if this sub-variant has properties of additional immune evasion or indeed of being more clinically severe. We don't know that. So we have to wait and see,” she said.
WHO is tracking the sub-variant, and the WHO Technical Advisory Group on SARS-CoV-2 Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) is constantly looking at the data from around the world, she said.
“And at any time if there is an emergence of a virus that looks very different from a previous one, enough to be called a separate variant of concern, then the committee will do that.”
The WHO weekly epidemiological update on Covid-19 said that globally, the number of new weekly cases increased for the fourth consecutive week after a declining trend since the last peak in March 2022.
During the week of June 27 to July 3, over 4.6 million cases were reported.
The number of new weekly deaths declined by 12 per cent compared to the previous week, with over 8100 fatalities reported, said WHO in its July 6 update.
As of July 3, 2022, over 546 million were confirmed. Covid-19 cases and over 6.3 million deaths have been reported globally.
The Covid update said that among Omicron lineages, the proportions of BA.5 and BA.4 continue to increase. BA.5 has been detected in 83 countries. Although BA.4, seen in 73 countries, is also rising globally, the rate of increase is not as high as that of BA.5.
The South-East Asia Region has been reporting an increasing trend in cases since early June, with over 157,000 new cases reported, a 20 per cent increase compared to the previous week.
The highest numbers of new cases were reported from India (112,456 new claims, an increase of 21 per cent).
The number of new weekly deaths in the region increased by 16 per cent compared to the previous week, with over 350 new deaths reported. The highest numbers of new deaths were reported from India (200 new deaths, a 39 per cent increase).
Ghebreyesus said, “Decreasing immunity underscores the importance of boosters, especially for the most at-risk,” the WHO chief said, adding that each wave of the virus leaves more people with the long-COVID or post-COVID condition.”
“This impacts individuals and their families, but it also burdens health systems, the wider economy and society-at-large. These challenges require action at a global, national and local level,” he added.
WHO Incident Manager COVID-19 Abdi Mahamud said, “We're still in the midst of the pandemic and the virus has a lot of force left. So whether it is the BA.4 or BA.5 or BA.2.75, the virus will continue. It does what it does good,” he said.
He said people and communities must continue to wear masks, avoid crowds and ensure that the most vulnerable and high-risk population is protected.