India sees 324 cases of KP.1, KP.2 variant driving Covid-19 in Singapore, Maharashtra tops with 148

livemint.com:

. Four cases of KP.1 have been reported from Maharashtra, two from Rajasthan and Gujarat, and one from Goa, Haryana, and Uttarakhand. Similarly, the INSACOG has traced nearly 290 cases of KP.2 across the country, including 148 from Maharashtra alone, the highest among the other states reporting the KP.2 cases.

The other states and Union territories reporting KP.2 sub-variants are West Bengal (36), Gujarat (23), Rajasthan (21), Uttarakhand (16), Odisha (17), Goa (12), Uttar Pradesh (8), Karnataka (4), Haryana (3), Madhya Pradesh and Delhi one each. The report further said that the INSACOG is able to pick up the emergence of any new variant and samples are also picked from hospitals in a structured manner to detect any change in the severity of disease due to virus. It is important to note that Singapore is experiencing a new wave of COVID-19, as authorities recorded more than 25,900 cases from May 5 to 11.

The cases are nearly doubling week-on-week. The government has issued a health advisory asking people to wear masks again. The estimated number of COVID-19 infections in the week of May 5 to 11 rose to 25,900 – a 90% increase compared with the 13,700 cases in the previous week, Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the predominant COVID-19 variants globally are still JN.1 and its sub-lineages, including KP.1 and KP.2. and the global health organization has put KP.2 as a Variant Under Monitoring. Scientists have also nicknamed KP.1 and KP.2 as 'FLiRT', after the technical names of their mutations.