Here's what we know so far about Covid XE variant

After 600 cases of XE subvariant of the Omicron virus have flared up in the United Kingdom, one person in India has now been infected with the subvariant.

Previously, a case of XE Covid-19 variant was detected in Mumbai but the Union Health Ministry denied the reports.

Here’s what we know so far about the XE variant:

XE is a combination or recombinant of both sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2) of Omicron.

Also Read | India begins administering precaution dose to adults

Omicron's sub-variant XE is considered more transmissible than other variants of coronavirus.

WHO has said that the XE recombinant was first detected in the United Kingdom on January 19 and more than 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since.

Scientists believe the XE subvariant may be about 10 per cent more contagious than BA.2.

Kamil Khafizov, head of a group working on new methods to diagnose human diseases at the sanitary watchdog’s Central Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology, was quoted by the official TASS news agency as saying that the "new variant will be a bit more transmissible than all the previous strains".

Also read: Covishield, Covaxin precautionary doses price slashed to ₹225 for private hospitals

However, Khafizov stressed, “the thing to note is that a lot of people contracted the virus and recovered from it between January and March, which created a very strong herd immunity.”

Dr Gagandeep Kang, Professor at Christian Medical College in Vellore, has said, “Variants will come because people are travelling. What we know of the variant (XE) is that it is not a point of concern.”

As per scientists, XE belongs to the Omicron variant until significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics, including severity, may be reported.

Check out the latest videos from DH: