XE variant in Mumbai: No need to panic, patient recovered in 2 days last month, says BMC

As the news of the first case of XE, a more transmissible COVID-19 variant, in Mumbai broke internet, BMC Commissioner Iqbal Chahal has informed that there is no need to panic and the concerned patient had recovered in 2 days last month.

Shashank Joshi from Maharashtra COVID-19 task force also said, "Mumbai XE variant case occurred in first week in March from an international travellor who fully recovered but Genomic data is out today. No need to panic, follow covid appropriate behavior."

Mumbai on Tuesday reported 56 COVID-19 cases, a three-fold rise from a day earlier, which took the infection count in the country's financial capital to 10,58,185.

The death toll remained unchanged at 19,559 as no new fatality was recorded, while the recovery count rose by 36 to touch 10,38,356, leaving the metropolis with 270 active cases.

A BMC official said the XE variant appears to be 10 per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron. So far, BA.2 was deemed to be the most contagious of all the COVID-19 variants.

The XE variant is a mutation of the BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains, referred to as a "recombinant".

As per the initial studies, the XE variant has a growth rate of 9.8 percent over that of BA.2, also known as the stealth variant because of its ability to evade detection.

The World Health Organization has said the latest mutant may be more transmissible than the previous ones.