Il variants found in isn't flyers, all exist in India already.
- New Delhi: As many as 124 passengers who arrived in India between December 24 and January 3 were found positive for Covid-19 and tests revealed presence of eleven Omicron sub-variants which had been earlier reported in India, health ministry sources said on Thursday.
- The sources said the 11 variants of SARS-CoV-2 were identified in Whole Genome Sequencing (WSG) carried out on the samples of 40 of the passengers who were found positive. They said 19,227 international travelers were tested at airports, seaports and land ports du- ring this period.
- "XBB, a sub-variant of Omicron, and its subline ages including XBB.1, XBB.2. XBB.3.4.5 were found in 14 (35%) of the 40 samples. BQ.1.1 and its sub-lineages BQ 1.122 and BQ 11.5: 9 were found in 9 (23%) samples," of- facials said.
- Other sub-variants found in WSG conducted on the positive samples from among the international passengers were BA.5.2, BF7.4.1, CH.1.1, CH1.1.1 among others.
- According to INSACOG, a consortium of 54 laboratories to monitor the genomic variations in SARS-CoV-2, Co- vid-19 caused by XBB and its lineage XBB.1 are mostly mild and similar to other Omicron sub-lineages. "In the current phase of the pandemic, the SARS-CoV-2 virus is continuously accumulating mutations, some of which might contribute to increased transmissibility and immune evasion resulting in transmission advantage over other variants," the INSA- COG had said in a statement issued in October last year.