No reason to worry till a new variant is detected: Delhi health minister

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Delhi has recorded over 18.6 lakh Covid-19 cases. For the past few days, the daily tally has been above the 100-mark, stoking fears of a worsening pandemic situation.

With India reporting its first XE variant case of Covid-19, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said on Monday that there is no reason to worry until a new variant of concern is detected.

Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain.  (ANI file photo)

Speaking to reporters, Jain said, “Every day a new variant is getting generated as the virus is mutating. The Delhi government is keeping a watchful eye on the Covid-19 pandemic situation. The World Health Organization (WHO) has not declared any new variant of concern. There is no reason to worry until a new variant of concern gets detected.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Delhi has recorded over 18.6 lakh Covid-19 cases. For the past few days, the daily tally has been above the 100-mark, stoking fears of a worsening pandemic situation.

Health minister Jain told reporters on Monday that, the “count of daily cases in Delhi is being reported in the range of 100-200. We are keeping an eye on hospital admissions, and that is going down. The focus shouldn't be on the positivity rate much as of now.”

On Sunday, the national capital added 141 new Covid-19 cases and the positivity rate stood at 1.29%. The Union government had last week directed Delhi along with Kerala, Haryana, Maharashtra and Mizoram, to continue to monitor the spread of the infection and accordingly take measures amid a recent surge in cases.

The XE variant in India has been detected in Gujarat's Vadodara. The patient had a travel history to Mumbai. Gujarat government officials said that a 67-year-old man had contracted the variant a month ago, adding that he had mild symptoms and recovered soon.

Earlier, it was reported that the first case of the variant was found in a 50-year-old woman in Mumbai, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The woman had travelled to the city from South Africa in February.

However, the Union government refuted the above claim. Sources in the government told news agency ANI on April 6 that present evidence did not suggest it is the XE variant.

A day later, Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said the state health department has not received any confirmation about the variant and thus could not confirm it.

The XE variant is a combination or recombinant of both sub-variants -- BA.1 and BA.2 -- of Omicron.

The variant was first detected in the United Kingdom and the WHO warned that it could be more transmissible than any Covid-19 strain seen till now.

(With agency inputs)