Covid 4th wave: After XE variant detected in India, NTAGI chief says ‘nothing to panic about’

The XE variant of Covid-19 has spread to several countries in the past month, including India. With the fears of the fourth wave of the pandemic intensifying across the country, the Centre has issued a statement, saying that there is no need to panic.

After cases of the XE variant were detected in Gujarat and Maharashtra, the chief of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), NK Arora, has said that the Omicron XE variant is “nothing to worry about” in India.

Arora said that there is no cause for panic when it comes to the X strains of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 as they are not causing any serious diseases and are not showing any rapid spread in India, according to the current data.

As quoted by news agency ANI, the NTAGI chief said, “Omicron giving rise to many new variants. It is of X series like XE & others. These variants will keep on occurring. Nothing to panic about… At the moment from Indian data, it doesn’t show a very rapid spread.”

Till now, two cases of the XE variant have been detected in India. One case of the strain has been reported in Maharashtra’s Mumbai, with the patient being a 67-year-old fully vaccinated man.

The second case of the new variant was detected in Gujarat, according to the Union Health Ministry. The man was tested positive for Covid-19 on March 13 and had recovered in a week, according to reports.

The XE variant of coronavirus was detected by experts last month when the first case of the strain was reported in the United Kingdom. The variant has now spread to several countries, increasing the concern about a possible fourth wave of the pandemic.

Experts have also said that the XE variant of Covid-19 spreads much faster than the Omicron variant, which was the most transmissible strain of the virus till now. It is not yet known if it is more lethal than the Omicron and Delta variant of coronavirus.