Gujarat reports first case of coronavirus XE variant

Ahmedabad : Gujarat has reported its first case of coronavirus XE variant that is more contagious but less deadly than the omicron variant.

Earlier this week, a woman in Maharashtra had tested positive for the new variant. She had returned from South Africa recently.

The Omicron XE variant was first detected in the United Kingdom on 19 January, 2022, since then more than 6000 cases of the variant have been detected.

The new variant XE is a mutant hybrid of two versions of Omicron - BA.1 and BA.2. It only accounts for a small fraction of cases across the globe at the moment.

According to the World Health Organization it is 10 per cent more transmissible than the original omicron variant.