WHO epidemiologist issues new advisory amid rise in Omicron variants

While the new Covid variants are causing fear worldwide, in India, they do not lead to more hospital admissions and deaths. Though it is considered mild, the new variants are still fast-spreading ones

As new Omicron variants are spreading around the globe and becoming a cause of concern, World Health Organization (WHO)'s infectious disease epidemiologist, Maria Van Kerkhove, on Tuesday, called for 'sustained surveillance of the (Covid) virus amid Omicron Variants of Concern dominance worldwide'.

According to a report in Indian Express, Kerkhove said that with almost 80 per cent of the sequences that are reported worldwide being of the BA.5, and their sub-lineages, XBB is a recombinant of actually two BA.2 sublineages, and specifically, BA.2.10.1 and B.2.75. She further added that It is one of the more than 300 sub-lineages of Omicron