Mumbai: Santacruz resident tests positive for Covid XE variant, says BMC

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Mumbai reported its first confirmed case of the XE variant of coronavirus on Saturday, the city's civic body BMC said. A 67-year-old man, a resident of Santacruz suburb, has been found positive for the new variant.

But the report about detection of the XE sub-variant in him was received on Friday, he said, adding that the man's current status is not known to the authorities in Vadodara. XE, the latest mutant of Omicron may be more transmissible than the previous ones, the World Health Organization has said. "A man from Santacruz in Mumbai, had tested positive for Covid-19 on March 12 during his visit to Vadodara. His wife was accompanying him," Medical Officer of Health, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, Devesh Patel said.

As per the results of his sample's genome sequencing received yesterday, he is found to have been infected with the new mutant XE, a sub-variant of Omicron, he said. The man had visited Vadodara due to some work and stayed at a hotel. After developing fever, he got himself tested for Covid-19 at a private lab, the result of which came positive, Patel said. "He was found positive on March 12. His sample was sent for genome sequencing.

As per the result, declared yesterday, he was found infected with a new mutant XE variant," he said. "He had provided local address of his relatives for his sample. He had returned to Mumbai on his own soon after. No further status of the patient is known to the local authorities," Patel added.

(With inputs from PTI, ANI)