What Is Driving A Surge In Covid Cases In India? Active Cases Rise To 7,121

India has seen an uptick in Covid-19 cases over the past few weeks. As of Thursday morning, 7,121 active Covid-19 cases have been reported in the country. Amid the ongoing resurgence, 6 Covid-related deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours. Kerala remains the most affected state with 2,223 active cases, followed by Gujarat (1,223), Delhi (757), West Bengal (747), and Maharashtra (615).

Covid-19 in India: Variants in circulation

Earlier, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Rajiv Behl said that Omicron Sub-variants LF.7, XFG, JN.1, and NB. 1.8.1 are currently circulating in India.

As of June 9, 163 cases of the new Covid variant XFG were detected across India, as per Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) data.

While Maharashtra reported the highest number of XFG cases with 89 infections, a few cases were reported in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Gujarat, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.

About XFG variant

XFG recombinant sub-variant which belongs to the Omicron family. It originated from two variants- LF.7 and LP.8.1.2. According to The Lancet journal, the XFG variant survives and spreads easily as it can evade the body's natural defences easily. However, it does not cause severe illness. It was first detected in Canada.

The NB.1.8.1 variant

The main coronavirus variant causing a resurgence in covid cases is the NB.1.8.1 variant. It is spreading widely across Asian countries. A few cases have been detected in the US and UK. It is now the dominant variant in China and Hong Kong.

NB.1.8.1 variant is also a descendant of the Omicron sub-variant. It was first detected in the US between late March and early April among international travellers. It does not cause severe illness however, it is highly transmissible.

Symptoms

The symptoms of both XFG and NB.1.8.1 variants are quite similar to those of other omicron variants. Infected individuals have reported mild to moderate upper respiratory symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, headache, loss of appetite, body aches, fatigue, and runny nose.

LF.7 and JN.1 are also responsible for some of the cases in India.

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