The Indian state of Maharashtra has recorded the emergence of two new Covid-19 variants, i.e., BA.2.3.20 and BQ.1. The state has released a warning statement of a potential spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state.
Omicron sub-variants – Maharashtra braces for impact
There is uncertainty and fear looming in the state of Maharashtra. This stems from the discovery of two new sub-variants under the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus. As a consequence, the state of Maharashtra is seeing an escalation in the number of Covid-19 cases.
BA.2.3.20 and BQ.1, have emerged as sub-variants and are believed to be an offspring of the variant, Omicron.
Maharashtra has been experiencing a spike or an increase in the number of Covid-19 cases by 17.7 percent between October 10 and 16. The areas that are highly infected are the districts of Thane, Raigad and Mumbai.
This marks a sudden increase of Covid cases in the state as prior to this, the cases of Covid-19 in Maharashtra were not as many as of this moment.
This occurrence has raised alarms and concerns by the state government and health departments of Maharashtra regarding the safety and security of its people.
As a word of caution, Dr Pradeep Awate has advised the people of Maharashtra to adhere to strict Covid-19 protocols and to perform what is required of them.
This is the first record of the sub-variants in the country as reported by Dr Pradeep Awate. An official statement mentions that these sub-variants have been discovered as “part of genome sequencing efforts”.
Additionally, there is scarce knowledge about the extent of the sub-variants’ effects. In this case, experts have not been able to assert the severity of the disease yet. All that is known is the ability of these sub-variants to have a variation of mutations.
The state health department of Maharashtra and experts on the subject, have warned people to not take the virus for granted and not to ignore the signs and warnings.
They advised the people to stick to Covid-19 protocols and adhere to the regulations as implemented by the government. The people are expected to listen and instantiate Covid appropriate mentality and conduct.
They have been counselled to get themselves registered for vaccination and get vaccinated as soon as possible.
For those who are suffering from medical conditions, experts have advised them to pay extra heed or attention.
As for people who are or have been infected by Influenza or show signs of related symptoms, experts have advised them to evade public spaces and shun themselves from any close physical contact with anyone.
The current rate or number of active cases in Maharashtra is around 2800 with Mumbai reporting 153 new cases and Pune with 24 new cases on Monday.
Furthermore, some of the states have reported a total number of 71 instances of Omicron’s new XBB subvariant. On Thursday, the first five infections were reported in the state of Maharashtra followed by West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Odisha with 17, 16, and 33 cases, respectively, in a period of two weeks.
The experts that are working on India’s genome sequencing project propose that 88 percent of India’s new infections have been caused by the sub-variant, BA.2.75.
The subvariant, XBB, on the other hand, was accountable to only 7 percent of all cases in the country.
It is also reported that the rampancy of the sub-variant, BA.5 has now decreased to under 5 percent.
State Coordinator of genome sequencing, Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, has said that they have been meticulously surveying and analyzing sub-variant, XBB’s growth in Maharashtra. In a statement, Dr Karyakarte said, “XBB has been found in many parts of the world, but it’s rising very fast in Singapore”.
On Oct 17, the state government of Kerala has announced that it will be accentuating and boosting its precautionary measures in the state in order to prevent the number of Covid-19 cases from rising even further because of the newly discovered sub-variants.
Originally brought to light in Singapore and the US in August, the XBB is a combination of the two varieties or variants, BA.2.75 and BJ.1. Unsure of the virus’ effects and whether or not people infected would require hospitalisation, Scientists are of the opinion that “recombinant” is good immune evasion.
In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded that the BQ.1 sub-variant contrives at least one in 10 new cases.
Moreover, in Singapore, the health ministry has outlined that there was not sufficient evidence of the serious repercussions of the sub-variant and they cannot pin the blame on it, in spite of the fact that Singapore has been experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases.
There is similar treatment applied to the offshoots of Omicron and the second-generation variants because of Omicron’s classification as a “variant of concern”. This classification has been termed by the World Health Organization (WHO).
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