Mumbai: After the reports of Mumbai reporting its first case of coronavirus’s XE variant on Wednesday, official sources to ANI have clarified that the genome sequencing of the patient’s sample does not indicate the presence of the XE variant.
The government sources said that FastQ files of the sample, being said to be ‘XE’ variant, was analysed by INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) which inferred that the genomic constitution of this variant doesn’t correlate with the genomic picture of ‘XE’. “Present evidence does not suggest that it is ‘XE’ variant of COVID-19,” a source said.
🔲Present evidence doesn’t suggest that it’s ‘XE’ variant.FastQ files of the sample,being said to be ‘XE’ variant was analysed by INSACOG genomic experts who inferred that genomic constitution of this variant doesn’t correlate with genomic picture of ‘XE’ variant: (ANI)
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Earlier, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) informed in a media release that one case of the Kappa variant has also been detected. The patients with the new variants of the virus don’t have any severe symptoms so far.
The World Health Organisation had last week said that the new mutant may be more transmissible than any strain of COVID-19.
The patient of XE variant is a 50-year-old costume designer who returned from South Africa in February. She tested positive for Covid on March 2.
The new strain was detected in the UK at the start of the new year. Britain’s health agency said on April 3 that XE was first detected on January 19 and 637 cases of the new variant have been reported in the country so far.
XE is a “recombinant” which is a mutation of BA’1 and BA.2 Omicron strains. Recombinant mutations emerge when a patient is infected by multiple variants of Covid.
The variants mix up their genetic material during replication and form a new mutation, UK experts said in a paper published in British Medical Journal.