Gujarat detects XE variant of coronavirus in 67-year-old Mumbai resident

The person had travelled from Mumbai to Vadodara on March 12 and had gotten himself tested after developing fever on March 13 and had returned to Mumbai the following day.

In what could be the first such case in the country, XE variant of coronavirus, which is more infectious than the Omicron variant, has now been reported in Gujarat.

According to state health department sources, a 67-year-old man from Mumbai was found to be carrying the variant after a private Covid testing done during his stay in Vadodara was sent for genome sequencing to Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC).

"We have alerted the Maharashtra government since the infected person soon returned to Mumbai on March 14. Three other persons in Gujarat who came in contact with him were tested but