'New Covid variant found in India, but no rise in cases'
Eris', the new Covid-19 sub-variant which has sparked concern in the UK, has been detected in India, people in the know told ET. However, no «clustering» and increase in cases has been reported, they said. Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog), the pan-India network of laboratories set up to monitor genomic variations of the coronavirus, held a review meeting last week amid a surge in Covid-19 infections in the UK due to the new variant, also known as EG.5.1.
«We have seen sporadic cases of Eris in India, but there is nothing to be concerned about,» said a member of Insacog, citing data. The XBB sub-variant continues to be the dominant variant circulating in the country, accounting for 90-92% cases so far. EG.5.1, which has descended from the rapidly spreading Omicron, was first flagged in the UK last month and is now spreading in the country.
«So far, no unusual pattern in the country has been observed,» the Insacog member said. He said Insacog is reviewing the Covid-19 situation and continues to meet frequently. «The good news is that we have been able to detect new variants and sub-variants and the monitoring system is working well,» he said.
Information provided by the health ministry on Monday put the number of new coronavirus infections in the country in the last 24 hours at 54, taking the number of active cases to 1,574. The death toll from the disease stood at 531,918, as per data updated by the ministry at 8 am. Anurag Agrawal, former head of Insacog and chair of the World Health Organization's Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution, said the periodic increases of cases will be seen as immunity declines and more immune-escape mutations develop.
Read more on economictimes.indiatimes.com
