India detects highly infectious new Omicron sub-variant BF.7

Ahead of the festival season, India has detected a highly infectious Omicron variant BF.7, said to be behind the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in China, the US and other European countries. Officials said the first case of BF.7, described as ‘Omicron spawn,’ has been detected by the Gujarat Biotechnology Research centre. The variant, BA.5.2.1.7 or BF.7 for short, is a spinoff of the Omicron subvariant BA.5, which is currently the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant in the US and other countries.