Omicron sub-variant BF.7 behind China surge sparks concerns in India

Amid rising concerns around Omicron sub-variant that caused surge in China, the network of government scientists and labs responsible for genome-sequencing strains of Covid-19 virus are likely to meet

Amid rising concerns around the Omicron sub-variant that has caused the recent infection surge in China, the network of government scientists and labs responsible for genome-sequencing strains of the Covid-19 virus are likely to meet this week to discuss the looming threat in India, Livemint reported. 

The fast-mutating and virulent Omicron variant BF.7 and its spread in India will be discussed by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG).

INSACOG is a consortium of 54 laboratories to monitor the genomic variations in SARS-CoV-2.

Department of Biotechnology (DBT), National Technical Group of Immunization (NTAGI), Indian Council Medical Research (ICMR), National Institute Virology (NIV-Pune) and health ministry officials will participate in the meeting to review and analyze the impact of BF.7 in terms of hospitalisation and deaths according to the report.

Indian scientists are concerned that while India is showing a declining trend in new covid cases, the emergence of the new Omicron mutant may dilute all gains that the country has achieved so far.

BF.7 is a new variant of Covid-19 and has caused a surge in infections in China. Recently, India too reported a case of this variant. 

While the BA.5 sub-variant of omicron continues to be the dominant internationally, accounting for 76.2 per cent of the cases, in India, BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants never became the dominant variants. At present, BA.2.75 continues to cause most of the infections, according to WHO data

BF.7 and recombinant variants like XBB are spreading across several countries and therefore are being closely monitored globally.

At present, the positivity rate in India is relatively low. India reported 1,542 Covid-19 cases and 8 deaths in last 24 hours, the lowest in past six months, according to the health ministry data. Since the Pandemic started in March 2020, India has recorded more than 44.6 million cases and 528,913 deaths.

So far, India has reported different distributions of ‘Variants of Concern’ such as Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, B.1.6 series, AY series, Omicron Series, XE, XM and XJ since the onset of the pandemic.