As of now, two cases have been reported in Gujarat and one in Odisha, according to the PTI news agency.
Digital Desk: So far, three cases of Omicron subvariant BF.7 have been identified in India. This is the same strain that is presently generating a significant increase in Covid cases in China.
As of now, two cases have been reported in Gujarat and one in Odisha, according to the PTI news agency.
The first case was discovered in Gujarat in October by the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre.
As cases in China rise, Indian ministers and experts said at a review meeting on Wednesday that, while there has been no increase in cases so far, rigorous surveillance is needed to track current or developing virus types.
According to officials, the majority of cases reported in China are of subvariant BF.7, and the variant is strongly contributing to cases in Beijing and other places.
"The BF.7's high transmissibility in China may be linked to a poor degree of immunity in the Chinese population from previous infection, as well as maybe vaccination," they said.
In a letter to all states, India's health secretary Rajesh Bhushan encouraged them to accelerate genome sequencing of positive case samples.
"In light of the sudden surge of cases observed in Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of Korea, Brazil, and China," the letter stated, "it is critical to ramp up whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variations through...INSACOG network."
"Such an exercise will allow for the timely discovery of newer variations, if any, circulating in the country and will ease the implementation of necessary public health measures," Bhushan said.
The variation has previously been identified in Germany, Denmark, Belgium, and France, according to sources.
The strongest Omicron variety is BF.7, which is a sub-lineage of BA.5. It is easily transmitted and has a high infection rate.
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