Indian patients infected with Omicron sub-lineage XBB of COVID-19 have mild disease and no increase in severity is noted, the INSACOG said. The expert panel said the XBB variant has been detected in multiple states in the country.
The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), in a statement, said it is keeping a close watch and monitoring the emergence and evolution of XBB and XBB.1 and any new sub-lineages. "The community need not panic and adherence to coronavirus appropriate behaviour is recommended in the light of ongoing festivities," it said.
Among the Indian patients the disease is mild like with other Omicron sub-lineages and no increase in severity is noted, the panel said.
In the current phase of the pandemic, the INSACOG said 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.
"XBB, a BJ.1/BM.1.1.1 recombinant lineage with breakpoint in the spike protein is presently appearing in multiple countries. This recombinant lineage was first detected in Singapore and the US, and has also been identified in multiple states in India," it said.
A sub-lineage of XBB with an additional mutation is also detected (XBB.1).
"Modest increase in the spread of XBB in Singapore has been observed. However, there has been no report of increase in severity of disease or increase in hospitalisation associated with these variants," it added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
In Probe Report On Puja Khedkar, Corruption And Misuse Of Power
India Reports 157 Covid Cases, 2 Deaths In Last 24 Hours Daily Covid Cases On The Decline In India, But Centre Remains Alert 619 Cases Of Covid Sub-Variant JN.1 Reported From 12 States Till January 4 Over 300 Indian Students Return Home As 105 Bangladeshis Killed In Protests "Jindal Group Executive Showed Porn, Groped Me On Flight": Woman To NDTV Massive Worldwide Microsoft Outage: Flights, Markets, Stock Exchange Down Bangladesh Imposes Curfew, Deploys Military As 105 Die In Protests Tesla Halted Some Production Lines Due To Global IT Outage: Report SpiceJet Says Services Up Again After "Resolution" Of Microsoft Outage Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.