Covid-19: India reports first case of highly transmissible XE variant

Mumbai’s city administration reported India’s first case of the highly-transmissible coronavirus variant, XE, on Wednesday.

The hybrid of two omicron strains BA.1 and BA.2 was detected in a 50-year-old woman who had traveled to the city from South Africa in February, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said in a statement. 

The asymptomatic patient had no cormorbidities and had been quarantined after being diagnosed almost a month later in March, the BMC said.

The hybrid strain, which was first detected in the UK, could be the most transmissible variant yet, according to the World Health Organization. It is estimated to spread 10% more easily than BA.2, which itself was more transmissible than original omicron.