Health Ministry denies detection of XE variant in India

In response to the media reports that claimed that a case of the new mutant was reported in Mumbai, the Union Health Ministry said that present evidence does not suggest the presence of XE variant of COVID denying media reports that claimed that a case of the new mutant was reported in Mumbai.

XE is a mutant hybrid of the two previous versions of the Omicron variant, BA.1 and BA.2, which is spreading across the world. It was first detected in the UK on January 19 and since then a few hundred sequences have been reported and confirmed.