BA.2.75 variant of Omicron spreads, but no clustering yet

The latest genome sequencing data of SARS-CoV-2 in the country has so far detected over 70 cases of the new sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.2.75, people in the know told ET.

In the review meeting on Friday by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG), the national consortium of government institutions, experts found that BA.2 and its sub-lineages are dominant in India. However, experts said it's too early to call BA.2.75 more severe.

Experts at INSACOG said that BA.2.75 has spread across several states but they so far have not seen clustering. "We are monitoring the situation and have yet to see any clusters due to the new sub-lineage. The hospitalisation and deaths haven't gone up and that's a good sign. Hence there's no need to panic. We have not seen severe disease so far. The WHO statement on BA.2.75 in India might not be completely true," said a senior official on condition of anonymity.

The World Health Organization this week confirmed that the BA.2.75 sub-lineage of Omicron was first found in India.

Experts said other sub-lineages including BA.4 and BA.5 were seen in less than 10% of samples in India and BA2.38 in 30 % of the samples. "The good news is that no new variant has been seen to be circulating, even as the Covid cases continue to rise," added the official.