India reports first case of COVID variant XE

BENGALURU: India’s first case of coronavirus variant XE was detected in Mumbai on Wednesday, Indian media reported.

The patient is a 50-year-old costume designer who returned from South Africa in February.

She tested positive for Covid on March 2, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in its release.

This strain was detected in the UK at the start of the new year. Britain’s health agency had on April 3 said that XE was first detected on January 19 and 637 cases of the new variant have been reported in the country so far.

The new mutation XE appears to be 10 per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said.

A case of the Kappa variant has also been detected in India.