Three diagnosed with BF.7 variant of Covid in Mumbai

Genome sequencing of international passengers testing positive for Covid-19 has found three samples positive for BF.7, a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant, which is suspected to be responsible for the surge in cases in several countries, including China

Mumbai: Genome sequencing of international passengers testing positive for Covid-19 has found three samples positive for BF.7, a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant, which is suspected to be responsible for the surge in cases in several countries, including China.

Three diagnosed with BF.7 variant of Covid in Mumbai

According to the state health department report released on Monday evening, all the three patients are from Mumbai and have fully recovered. This is the first time that the BF.7 variant has been isolated in the genome sequencing in the state.

“Two of them had come from China and one from Canada. All of them were vaccinated. All of them had mild symptoms and did not need hospitalisation,” Dr Pradip Awate, state epidemiologist, said.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) health department officials involved in contact tracing said only one person was detected positive for Covid-19, while the rest were negative. “There is no need to panic because all the patients have recovered in home isolation,” Dr Mangala Gomare, BMC executive health officer, said.

In the backdrop of global Covid surge, screening of international flyers arriving at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur airports has been started from December 24, 2022.

Since then, 4,12,040 passengers have arrived in the state, out of which 9,415 underwent RTPCR. Of them 23 tested positive, whose samples were sent for genome sequencing.

Out of the 23 Covid positive flyers, five were from Mumbai, three from Pune, one each from Navi Mumbai, Amravati, Sangli in the state. Four belonged to Gujarat, two to Kerala and one each from Goa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Odisha and Telangana.