Misleading WhatsApp Msg On COVID XBB Variant: Govt Says It’s Fake

New Delhi: A misleading message related to the new variant of COVID-19 making rounds on WhatsApp has been termed “fake” by the Union Health Ministry. This WhatsApp message claims that the recently identified XBB subvariant of Omicron is five times more virulent and has a greater mortality rate than that of the Delta variants. Additionally, it provides a warning that its symptoms differ markedly from those of other subvariants.

This WhatsApp message has been marked as fake and misleading by the Union Health Ministry. It urged people to stop believing in it or forwarding it.

#FakeNews

This message is circulating in some Whatsapp groups regarding XBB variant of #COVID19.

The message is #FAKE and #MISLEADING. pic.twitter.com/LAgnaZjCCi

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) December 22, 2022

Current statistics, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), do not indicate XBB to be more dangerous than Omicron, which is also less lethal than the Delta version.

The XBB form is allegedly more lethal or produces more severe Covid-19 than the Delta type, according to a fact-check conducted by the news agency Reuters in November 2022.

According to research by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), the XBB variant of Omicron is more contagious than earlier iterations, but it also seems to produce less severe COVID.

Notably, the BF.7 subvariant of Omicron is what is causing the most recent COVID surge in China.