With the Indian government stating that "Covid is not over yet" in light of the spiking cases in China, it has emerged that India has already detected at least 3 cases of infection by the virus variant apparently driving the surge in China.
Three cases of Omicron subvariant BF.7 have been detected in India so far, according to sources quoted by news agency PTI. Two cases have been reported from Gujarat, and one from Odisha. One of these was detected in October 2022.
BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5 with high transmissibility, shorter incubation period, and reinfection capacity.
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"The BF.7's high transmissibility in China might be attributed to a low level of immunity in the Chinese population from the previous infection and possibly vaccination too," an official source said.
BF.7 cases have already been detected in several other countries, including the US, the UK and European nations such as Belgium, Germany, France and Denmark.
(With PTI inputs)