India’s first case of XE variant of coronavirus disease reported from Mumbai.

Why in news?

• The first case of the XE variety of the coronavirus illness (Covid-19) in India was reported in Mumbai.
• The city civic authority Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced the results of its 11th genome sequencing, which identified one sample positive for the XE variant and another for the Kappa variant.
• According to BMC officials, the person who tested positive for the XE strain was a fully vaccinated 50-year-old woman who had no co-morbidities and was asymptomatic.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO),the new subvariant ‘XE’, which is a hybrid strain of two Omicron subvariants, could be the most transmissible coronavirus strain ever discovered.
• INSACOG, which sequenced the case’s genome, stated that the sample did not indicate the presence of the variation.
• XE is a hybrid or recombinant of Omicron’s two sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2). The BA.2 sub-lineage has been linked to COVID-19 instances in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China.
• Early research suggested the variant had a 10% growth rate advantage over 2,one of the most contagious types, according to the World health organization.