COVID-19 Live Updates: 610 Cases of XBB.1.16 Variant Found In India, Reveals INSACOG Data

The current dominant COVID-19 strain in India is the highly contagious XBB.1.16 variant. It has several mutations in its spike protein that helps it infect a fully vaccinated individual.

The highest number of COVID-19 cases caused this year was mainly triggered by the XBB.1.1.6 variant, which is an advanced and mutated version of the XBB strain. According to the latest report by India's SARS-CoV-2 Genome Sequencing Consortium (INSACOG), a total of 610 new cases of COVID-19 variant XBB 1.16 variant has been confirmed in India so far. Most of these cases were registered in Maharashtra, and Gujarat, followed by Telangana and Karnataka.

The XBB.1.16 variant comes with several mutations in its spike protein that provides it immense power to infect a fully vaccinated individual. This new variant is also becoming a bigger threat to India due to the high speed at which it is growing and spreading across the country. Are there any new symptoms of COVID when XBB.1.16 infects an individual? According to the available data, at present, the XBB.1.16 variant does not seem to be causing serious clinical issues in most people and symptoms include upper respiratory features like a blocked nose, headache and sore throat, along with fever and myalgia or muscle pain which lasts for three to four days.

Meanwhile, in the last 24 hours, India has reported 1,573 fresh COVID-19 cases, while the active cases have increased to 10,981. According to the latest data by the Union Health Ministry, India's active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate has been recorded at 98.79 per cent.