India has reported its first known case of new coronavirus variant XE -- a mutant hybrid of two versions of Omicron -- in the western city of Mumbai.
The XE victim, a 50-year-old woman who arrived from South Africa in February, is fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and has shown no severe symptoms so far, the city's civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), said in a statement.
One case of the Kappa variant of Covid-19 has also been detected, according to BMC.
The two cases were detected after samples of as many as 230 Covid patients from the city were sent for genome sequencing, the civic body said.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the XE mutant is more transmissible than any variant of coronavirus. It was first detected in the UK in January, reports UNB.
XE is a mutation of BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains, according to the British Medical Journal.
Meanwhile, India's Covid-19 tally rose to 4,30,30,925 on Wednesday, as 1,086 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, according to the federal health ministry data.
Besides, 71 fatalities were recorded since Tuesday morning, taking the Covid death toll in the country to 521,487.