COVID mutant ‘XE’: TIGS Director Rakesh Mishra urges citizens not to panic, says ‘closely monitor the development of variant’
Covid variant XE has been around since Jan, no cause of concern as of now
Rakesh Mishra, Director of the Tata Institute of Genetics and Society, Bengaluru, said the XE variant is a recombinant of BA.1 and BA.2, the sub-lineages of SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19.
In addition to those, it has three other mutations which were not there in Omicron or BA.1 or BA.2.
That is why it is called XE. It will now be a variant
Asked about its severity and transmissibility, Rakesh Mishra said as far as the infectivity data is concerned, XE is 10 per cent more infectious than Omicron.
According to the report, the ‘XE’ variant is made up of two versions of Omicron, BA.1 and BA.2. This new variant was first found in the UK on 19 January. Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS) has urged not to panic about this new variant. It has also been said that experts are monitoring the development of XE.
Speaking exclusively to ANI on Saturday, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society (TIGS) Director Rakesh Mishra said, “The new mutant XE emerged for the first time in mid-January, but I believe that there is no need to push a ‘panic button’. So far, only 600 cases have been reported across the world. But we need to keep a close watch on it.”
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