Covid news: The new variant BF.7 has a shorter incubation period and has a higher capacity to cause reinfection or infect even those vaccinated.
Covid in India: A fresh Covid surge was witnessed in China reportedly due to Omicron subvariant BF.7. The fresh surge in the country has prompted India to gear up to tackle a new Covid surge if any. Now cases of the same variant have been detected in India as well, official sources said Wednesday, PTI reported.
The first case of BF.7 in India was detected in October by Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre. So far, two cases have been reported from Gujarat while one case has been reported from Odisha.
Top updates
- Two patients infected with BF.7 and BF 12 variants were reported in July-October-November 2022.
- These patients were treated in home isolation and have fully recovered, the Health Department of Gujarat said.
- BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5 and has the strongest infection ability since it is highly transmissible.
- The new variant has a shorter incubation period and has a higher capacity to cause reinfection or infect even those vaccinated.
- It has already been detected in several other countries, including the US, the UK and European nations such as Belgium, Germany, France and Denmark.
- Random sample testing for coronavirus has been started at airports for international passengers arriving from China and other countries, reports suggest.
- The Centre has asked states to send samples to labs for genome sequencing, which can help identify the variant or sub-variant.
- Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya today chaired a Covid review meeting wherein experts said there is no overall increase in Covid caseload as of now.
- However, they suggested there is a need for continued surveillance to keep a track of existing and emerging variants.
- India reported 129 fresh Covid infections over the last 24 hours and the number of active cases currently stands at 3,408.
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 "Three cases of new Omicron subvariant BF.7, driving China's Covid surge, detected in India: Top updates")
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