The meeting of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya with the senior health officials regarding the emergence of Omicron’s new sub-variants concluded with the decision to continue masks and Covid-19-appropriate behaviour across the country, official sources told ANI.
The team of scientists, doctors, and senior officials has also recommended increasing surveillance and genome sequencing.
According to the sources, Niti Aayog member VK Paul, the Chairperson of Covid-19 working group NTAGI NK Arora, NTAGI officials, NEGVAC officials, and other senior health officials, as per the official sources.
Earlier on Tuesday, Maharashtra recorded a 17.7 percent rise in coronavirus cases compared to last week, according to a state health department bulletin.
The state has reported new Covid cases, including the XBB, a new sub-variant of the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which has been detected in parts of India, including Kerala.
Apart from this, Maharashtra has reported cases from other sub-variants of Omicron such as BA.2.3.20 and BQ.1 variant, which were detected for the first time in India on Monday from the sample of a patient in Pune.
XBB, a recombinant lineage between two Omicron sublineages, BJ.1 and BA.2.75, is a fast-spreading variant, which was seen to have caused a spike across Singapore recently.
As per the Maharashtra Health Department report, the XBB has a growth advantage over BA.2.75 and evasive immune properties.
On October 17, India detected its first case of Omicron’s BQ.1 subvariant in a sample of a patient from Pune. The BQ.1 is a descendant of the BA.5, which is behind 60 per cent of COVID cases in the United States (US), as per reports.
Some experts from the health department predicted a rise in the coming winter season, especially in a festive environment. In Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), BA.2.75 decreased to 76 per cent from 95 per cent.
Maharashtra’s health department and experts have asked not to ignore flu-like symptoms and to seek medical advice at the earliest. They have advised observing COVID-appropriate behaviour in public places and getting vaccinated as per Government of India guidelines.
Experts from the department suggest that people with comorbidities need to take extra precautions while visiting public places. People suffering from influenza-like illnesses should avoid public contact as much as possible.
