Covid-19 variants BA.4, BA.5 confirmed in India

Image credit: Reuters

New Delhi: The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) confirmed the presence of BA.4 and BA.5 variants of Covid-19 in India. INSACOG on May 21 informed that a 19-year-old female from Tamil Nadu who showed only mild symptoms and was fully vaccinated was detected with the BA.4 variant of SARS-CoV-2, while an 80-year-old male from Telangana tested positive for BA.5 variant of Covid-19. The patient from Telangana was also fully vaccinated and showed only mild symptoms.

Both the patients had no travel history and were fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The contact tracing of the patients has been launched, informed the INSACOG in a statement.

INSACOG confirms BA.4 & BA.5 variants of #COVID19 in India. pic.twitter.com/YJsoSuLt5f — ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2022

Before the 19-year-old female from Tamil Nadu, a South African traveler tested positive for the BA.4 variant of Covid-19 on his arrival at Hyderabad airport. It is pertinent to note that the sub-variants BA.4, and BA.5 of Omicron were first reported from South Africa only and have now spread to several other countries. However, these variants have not been associated with any disease severity or increased hospitalisation.