New case of Covid XBB 1.5 strain found, total variant cases now 8: INSACOG

One new case of COVID-19's XBB 1.5 strain, responsible for the surge of cases in the United States, was found in India, taking the overall number of such cases in the country to eight, according to INSACOG data.

The new case of the strain was found in Uttarakhand in the last 24 hours, while earlier, three cases were found in Gujarat, one each in Karnataka, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) said.

The XBB.1.5 strain is a relative of the Omicron XBB variant, which is a recombinant of the Omicron BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 subvariants. Combined, XBB and XBB.1.5 make up 44 per cent of cases in the US.

The INSACOG data also showed that nine cases of BF.7 strain, which is apparently driving China's coronavirus wave, have been found.

Four cases of Omicron sub-variant BF.7 have been reported in West Bengal, two each in Gujarat and Haryana, and one in Odisha.

INSACOG reports genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 across the country through sequencing of samples from sentinel sites and international passengers arriving in India.