Gujarat detects its first case of the highly transmissible XE variant of Omicron

The state reported its first case after a man from Mumbai tested positive for COVID-19 during his visit to Vadodara Amid global concerns over the highly transmissible XE Covid-19 variant, Gujarat has detected its first patient in a 60-year-old man with a travel history to Mumbai, according to the sources. As per the results of his sample’s genome sequencing received yesterday, he is found to have been infected with the new mutant XE, a sub-variant of Omicron, he said. The new mutant – first detected in the UK – may be more transmissible than any strain of COVID-19, World Health Organisation had said last week. Touted as more transmissible by the World Health Organisation, the XE is a recombinant variant, which means it is a mutant hybrid of the two previous versions of the Omicron variant, BA.1 and BA.2.