Covid In India: 4 New Sub-Variants Found, Infection Severity Mild, Says ICMR Chief

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Last Updated:May 26, 2025, 20:28 IST

Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research Dr Rajiv Behl emphasised that portion cases aren't terrible and there's nary request to worry, it's ever omniscient to enactment vigilant.

WHO and Indian wellness officials person stressed that NB.1.8.1 variant does not look to origin much terrible unwellness oregon higher mortality than different variants. (Photo: PTI file)

As India is witnessing an uptick successful Covid cases, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Rajiv Behl connected Monday said the severity of infections arsenic of present is mostly mild and determination was nary origin for worry.

While speaking astir the caller Covid variants being traced, Dr Behl said that genome sequencing of samples from West and South India person shown that the caller variants are not terrible and are Omicron sub-variants. These are LF.7 series, XFG series, JN.1 bid and NB.1.8.1 series, reported quality bureau PTI.

He further said that the ICMR is sequencing samples from different regions besides to place immoderate caller variants.

The ICMR DG further said determination has been an uptick successful cases –first from the south, past westbound and present from bluish India. All these cases are being monitored done the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).

He further emphasised that portion cases aren’t terrible and there’s nary request to worry, it’s ever omniscient to enactment vigilant.

“We person been intimately monitoring the situation. We should beryllium vigilant astatine this moment, but determination is nary origin to worry. The wide nationalist should beryllium vigilant. There is nary request to instrumentality immoderate specified enactment arsenic of now," helium said.

“Whenever cases increase, we look astatine 3 things. It’s babelike connected 3 factors with the archetypal being however transmissible it is, conversely however accelerated the cases are increasing. Previously we saw Covid cases treble successful 2 days, but this clip it is not that cases are expanding rapidly. Secondly, are the caller variants evading our erstwhile immunity? When caller variants come, they evade immunity — beryllium it earthy oregon from the vaccine. But there’s thing to interest astir astatine the moment," Dr Behl said.

He besides said that the 3rd origin is the percent of terrible cases successful each Covid instances.

“Are we getting a precise terrible illness without comorbidities? As of now, the severity is mostly low. There’s thing to interest about. We should beryllium vigilant and we should ever beryllium prepared," the ICMR DG asserted.

Besides that, ICMR’s nationwide respiratory microorganism sentinel surveillance web is keeping a ticker connected emerging infections and pathogens, helium said.

Covid Cases In India

Delhi reported astatine slightest 104 Covid-19 cases during the past week, portion Kerala and Maharashtra person logged 430 and 209 caller cases respectively successful the aforesaid period, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

A full of 1,009 progressive cases person been reported from crossed India, including 12 successful West Bengal, 13 successful Rajasthan, 15 successful Uttar Pradesh, 69 successful Tamil Nadu, 47 successful Karnataka and 83 successful Gujarat.

Several states including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Karnataka person seen an uptick successful caller infections. However, astir of these cases person been classified arsenic mild and are being managed done location isolation, officials added.

As of May 2025, the World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies LF.7 and NB.1.8 subvariants arsenic Variants Under Monitoring, not arsenic Variants of Concern oregon Variants of Interest. But these are the variants that are reportedly driving the emergence successful Covid cases successful China and parts of Asia.

(With inputs from PTI)

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