INSACOG confirms two new Covid variants in India, health ministry holds high-level meeting

Amid the recent rise in new Covid-19 infections in the country, two new variants of coronavirus – NB.1.8.1 and LF.7 type – have emerged responsible for the surge, as per the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) data. In other developments on new Covid infections, Union health secretary Punya Salila Srivastava on Saturday reviewed the cases with Secretary, Department of Health Research (DHR) & Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), DGHS, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) etc.

Highlighting the reports of increase in Covid 19 cases in Singapore, Hong Kong and other countries, an official source said, “It has been ascertained from the respective National IHR focal points that there is no indication that the circulating variants are more transmissible or cause more severe disease compared to the previously circulating variants”, said the source.

However, the INSACOG data have revealed that the one case of the new variant NB.1.8.1 and four instances of the LF.7 type have been detected in the country. One case of NB.1.8.1 was identified in April in Tamil Nadu and four cases of LF.7 were detected in Gujarat in May. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies LF.7 and NB.1.8 subvariants as Variants Under Monitoring, not as Variants of Concern or Variants of Interest. But these are the variants that are reportedly driving the rise in Covid cases in China and parts of Asia.

 In India, the most common variant remains JN.1, comprising 53 per cent of samples tested, followed by BA.2 (26 per cent) and other Omicron sublineages (20 per cent). Though WHO’s preliminary risk assessment classifies NB.1.8.1 as posing a low public health risk globally, its spike protein mutations such as A435S, V445H, and T478I suggest increased transmissibility and immune evasion compared to other variants.

However, the source said “There is a robust pan India system for surveillance of respiratory illnesses including Covid-19 through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) and ICMR’s pan India respiratory virus sentinel surveillance network. It is observed that most of these cases are mild and under home care”.

Meanwhile, Noida on Saturday recorded the first case of Covid infection after a 55-year-old woman tested positive for COVID-19. Delhi has total 23 cases of Covid infections. All 23 recent Covid-19 patients in Delhi experienced only mild symptoms and were under home quarantine, said the health officials in the Delhi government. Of them, 22 were recovering at home and none required hospitalisation.

Amid this rise in Covid, majority of the cases have been reported in Kerala, followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat. However, the doctors in the national capital have advised people not to panic over the COVID-19 cases linked to the JN.1 variant, saying the strain is not severe and most patients have only reported mild symptoms.