Coronavirus New Variant XBB.1.16 Mutating Further; 113 Cases Detected in India

New Delhi: The newly emerged recombinant coronavirus variant XBB.1.16 is mutating further. In India, its offshoot subtype, XBB.1.16.1, has been detected. Till now, 113 cases of this subtype have been identified in India. Most of these cases are from Gujarat and Maharashtra.

In the last four months around 400 new sub-variants of Omicron have been identified in India. Out of them, 90 per cent are of XBB variants. So far, there is no evidence to suggest that the subtype carries more disease severity.

The latest INSACOG bulletin said the XBB.1.16 variant accounts for 38.2 per cent of all the Covid infections in India till date. The symptoms of XBB.1.16 are the same as that of the parent Omicron strain. Its symptoms include fever, cough, cold, runny nose, headache, body ache, sometimes abdominal pain, and diarrhoea. Most of these patients can be managed at home.