New variants of Omicron seen in 7 Maharashtra patients

MUMBAI: Amidst rising Covid-19 cases in the state, health officials on Saturday said seven patients were found infected with newer Omicron sublineages of BA.4 (four patients) and BA.5 (three patients). These cases were found in Pune.

Maharashtra is the third state to report these newer sublineages, which are responsible for the fifth wave in South Africa. A few days back, Insacog scientists announced that two cases of BA.4 were detected in Tamil Nadu and one BA.5 in Telangana.

Covid cases began surging in Maharashtra in late April. While the daily tally in Maharashtra and Mumbai were 69 and 44 respectively on April 15, the numbers surged to 169 and 92 respectively on May 1. The daily caseload breached 500 on May 26 and stood at 529 on Saturday. Mumbai accounted for over 60% of Saturday’s tally with 330 cases. Experts say the present surge could be the result of the newer Omicron sub-lineages in circulation.

‘Maharashtra may see steady rise in cases, but no need to panic’

Experts say the present surge in Covid cases across Maharashtra could be the result of the newer Omicron sub-lineage in circulation. “It is possible these strains are pushing up the daily count, but there is no rise in deaths or worrying increase in hospitalisations. These are, after all, sub-lineages of Omicron to which there has been widespread exposure,” said a senior state health official.

State additional chief secretary (health) Dr Pradeep Vyas ruled out a sudden surge in cases in Maharashtra. “We could definitely see a steady rise in cases,'” he said.

State surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate concurred, saying, “BA. 4 and . 5 are the Omicron sub-lineages that have a higher rate of transmission according to international experience. ”

Dr Awate added two of the seven Pune patients had an international travel history to Africa and Belgium while three others had travelled to Kerala and Karnataka. The remaining two had no travel history.

Except for one of these patients who is nine years old, others are fully vaccinated. Omicron is known to escape Covid antibodies and cause a breakthrough infection.

Meanwhile, BMC officials said that due to a drop in cases in April, genomic surveillance has been slow in the city. Only genomic sequencing can conclusively identify sub-lineages and variants of the Covid causing SARS-CoV-2 virus.