India’s Gujarat detects its first case of XE variant of Covid-19: Report

The western Indian state of Gujarat today confirmed its first case of XE variant of Covid-19 -- a more infectious but not more severe than Omicron strain.

The variant has been found in a 67-year-old man, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported quoting the state's Additional Chief Secretary Manoj Aggarwal, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

Earlier this week, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had also reported a case of XE variant in a 50-year-old woman who came to Mumbai from South Africa in February but officials at Indian Sarscov2 Genome Consortium (INSACOG), a network of labs that tracks sequences, and the Health Ministry, are yet to confirm if it is an XE strain.

In the case of Gujarat, the man from Mumbai was detected with XE strain during his stay at a hotel in Vadodara city, Aggarwal said.

He said the sample of the 67-year-old man was sent to an Indian government-owned laboratory in Kalyani, West Bengal, and the confirmation of XE came yesterday.

The man was subjected to Covid-19 test after he had developed symptoms like fever in the hotel, Aggarwal added.

Meanwhile, Indian Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written letters to five states, including Delhi and Maharashtra, which reported a slight surge in fresh Covid cases, to continue monitoring the spread of infections, Health Ministry officials said.  The other states are Kerala, Haryana and Mizoram.

India reported 1,150 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours ending this morning, taking the total infection tally in the country so far to 4,30,34,217, according to the Health Ministry today.