New Omicron variant ‘not a threat’: Experts | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: The emergence of EG.5, an Omicron variant declared a ‘variant of interest’ by the WHO, is unlikely to pose a severe pandemic threat in India.

The chairman of the Covid-19 working group of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, Dr N K Arora told TOI that EG.5 was detected in India in May-June and there hasn’t been any significant change in the incidence rate of Covid-19 or hospitalisations on account of this subvariant. “There is no likelihood either, because it is a sub-variant of the Omicron XBB variant that has been in circulation for months and most people are already exposed to it,” he added.
243 new Covid sub-variants found till now: Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya

Concerns about a potential surge in cases due to EG.5, an Omicron variant, have been allayed by Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya. EG.5 is a descendant lineage of XBB.1.9.2.
As per WHO, as of August 7, a total of 7,354 sequences of Omicron EG.5 have been submitted to Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) from 51 countries.
Based on the available evidence, the UN health body said public health risk posed by EG.5 is evaluated as ‘low’ at the global level, aligning with the risk associated with XBB.1.16 and the other currently circulating VOIs. “While EG.5 has shown increased prevalence, growth advantage, and immune escape properties, there have been no reported changes in disease severity to date,” the WHO said in its statement.
Mandaviya said though the restrictions imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 were withdrawn, there was no let-up in surveillance. “We are constantly taking samples and testing them. Till now, 243 new sub-variants have been found. None of them pose any serious threat,” he said.