NEW DELHI//AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government on Saturday reported the first case of Omicron’s sub-variant XE in the state. Said to be 10 per cent more transmissible, this was detected in a man from Mumbai who tested positive for Covid-19 during his visit to Vadodara. He has gone back to Mumbai and is said to be in stable condition.
This is the second reported case of the variant in India, after one in Mumbai earlier this week. The Central government, which denied that the case in Mumbai was one of XE, did not comment on the Gujarat case till late in the evening. Experts have advised not to panic, saying that this combination of the BA.1 and BA.2 strains of Omicron will not be dangerous for a vaccinated population.
Officials at the Indian Sars-coV-2 Genome Consortium (INSACOG), a network of labs that tracks sequences, and the Union health ministry are yet to confirm if the Gujarat case is actually an XE variant.
According to Gujarat health department officials, a test was conducted on a 67-year-old man who came to Vadodara from Mumbai last month. He took a Covid-19 test after complaining of fever. The report was positive. This was around March 15. His samples were sent for genome sequencing to Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre in Gandhinagar for testing as per ICMR guidelines. The report came on Friday night.
Those who came in contact with the man from Mumbai have tested negative. “Covid test reports of three persons who came in contact with the patient are negative,” the Gujarat health department said. “Condition of the patient was stable when the health department had a conversation with him over the phone. As precautionary measures, action has been taken in that area in Vadodara as per Covid guidelines,” said the health department in a media statement.
Gujarat’s Additional Chief Secretary of Health, Manoj Agarwal said, “Transition capability of the XE variant is higher than Omicron. The hospitalisation process is the same. The Centre will continue to provide guidance.” The current variant has generated concern worldwide and in India, which has just lifted all Covid-related restrictions, with many states making it not mandatory to wear masks anymore.