Gujarat reports potential Covid 'XE' variant case

New Delhi, April 9

Gujarat on Saturday reported a potential case of Covid XE variant, probably also the first in India, in a 67-year-old man with a recent travel history from Mumbai to Vadodara.

Additional Chief Secretary (Gujarat) Manoj Aggarwal said the XE variant had been detected in the man who had tested positive on March 12 during his stay at a Vadodara hotel.

“Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre detected the XE variant in the patient 12 days ago. The sample was sent for confirmation to the Indian SARS CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) lab as per guidelines. The INSACOG lab — Department of Biotechnology’s National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani (West Bengal), sent the confirmation report back on Friday night. We are tracing the contacts of the patient,” said Aggarwal.

The Union Health Ministry, however, is yet to confirm the case. Earlier this week, Maharashtra had reported a suspected XE case, which the INSACOG had ruled out as XE mutant, saying the genome sequencing did not match. The INSACOG is a consortium of labs that conduct advanced genomic testing of samples to detect the nature of the variant.

Tested ve in March

• Gujarat man (67) had tested positive on March 12
• He had travel history from Mumbai to Vadodara
• The Covid variant was confirmed by INSACOG