Delhi records new cases of Omicron's BA.5 variant

Surge in Covid-19 count!

The prevailing cases of deadly corona are not over yet. Amid the Covid-19 fourth wave scare in India, the BA.5 sub-variant of Omicron has been found in some samples collected from central, south and southeast Delhi between May and June 16.

According to an official source said on Monday (June 27, 2022). The findings were discussed at a meeting on June 17 by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), which reviewed the Covid-19 data to check the possibility of any new emerging variant or sub-variant and ascertain the reasons behind the breakthrough infections.

Further the Sources said a few samples from Delhi that were sent to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for genome sequencing tested positive for the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-strains of Omicron, which had triggered the surge in the number of cases in January.

According to experts, BA.5 is highly transmissible. It, however, does not lead to severe infection.

"BA.4 and BA.5 are the offspring of BA.2 and BA.1 and they have undergone mutation. The mutation that has happened has given them a more pronounced characteristic of evading the immunity generated by Omicron that had triggered the infection surge in January," Lalit Kant, the former head of the epidemiology and communicable diseases department in the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said.