New COVID Variant XE Found In UK, More Transmissible Than Omicron, Says WHO

New Delhi: A new COVID variant named 'XE' has been found in the United Kingdom (UK), the World Health Oragnisation (WHO) said in its latest report.

As per the report, the XE variant may be more transmissible than any strain of COVID-19.

The report further claimed that XE is a ''recombinant'' which is a mutation of BA 1 and BA.2 omicron. The recombinant mutations emerge when a patient is infected by multiple variants of COVID.

According to experts, the variants mix up their genetic material during replication and form a new mutation.

The World Health Organisation said that the new mutation XE appears to be 10 per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron.

"Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10 per cent as compared to BA.2, however, this finding requires further confirmation," WHO added.

Reportedly, XE was first detected on January 19 and 637 cases of the new variant have been reported yet.

Meanwhile, US and China have reported a surge in COVID cases driven by the BA.2 variant. China reported nearly 104,000 domestic COVID infections in March, with 90 per cent of the recent cases found in Shanghai or northeastern Jilin province.

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