New Omicron sub-variant in Maharashtra also; three patients travelled to Kerala, says Health Department

MUMBAI: Maharashtra has reported its first case of the new Omicron sub-variant. The variant has been confirmed in seven people, including a child, in the state. The sub-variant was detected through genome surveillance in the patients. The news was released by the state’s health department.

Of the patients, two have a history of traveling to South Africa and Belgium, while three have travelled to Kerala and Karnataka. The rest of the patients have not travelled lately, said the health department.

All the seven cases have been reported in Pune. Of them, four have tested positive for the B.A.4 sub-lineage and three for the B.A.5 sub-variant. All the adults among the seven people have taken both vaccine doses. One person has taken the booster dose as well. However, the child who caught the disease has not been administered with vaccines. All seven of them are in quarantine at their houses.

The sub-variants have been found only in some parts of the world, including South Africa. Last week, similar cases were reported in Telangana as well. The samples from there were collected between May 4 and May 18.

The whole genome sequencing was conducted by the Institute of Science Education and Research, and its finding has been confirmed by the Indian Biological Data Centre in Faridabad.

“The variants are highly transmissible, which is one of the reasons behind the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the last couple of weeks. The cases are steadily going up everywhere, but patients are not being hospitalised in large numbers. There is nothing to worry,” said Dr Pradeep Awate, epidemiologist and the State Surveillance Officer.