New Covid variant hitting UK has been in India since May | India News

PUNE: Covid cases are showing signs of increase in Maharashtra after a long lull, while a new Omicron subvariant — EG.5.1 — has been detected in the state in the first instance of its presence in India.

Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, Maharashtra’s coordinator for genome sequencing and a senior scientist with Pune’s BJ Medical College, told TOI: “EG.5.1 was detected in Maharashtra in May. As two months have passed after its detection and no significant surge in Covid in June and July, this sub-variant has not seemed to make an impact. XBB.1.16 and XBB.2.3 are still dominating.”
According to state health department data, the number of active cases increased from 70 at the end of July to 115 on August 6. The case count in the state on Monday was 109.

The new Omicron subvariant EG.5.1 recently triggered concerns in the UK, prompting a health alert there. The UK is experiencing a rapid proliferation of the EG.5.1 subvariant, which has earned the nickname “Eris”. It was officially recognised on July 31, after a surge in infections attributed to this sub-variant.
EG.5.1 is a sub-strain of Omicron XBB.1.9, which has not been able to dominate cases in India so far, Dr Karyakarte said. “But it will be prudent to keep a close watch on hospital admissions.”
According to the data, Mumbai has the maximum active cases in the state at 43, followed by Pune at 34 and Thane 25. Raigad, Sangli, Solapur, Satara and Palghar have one active case each currently.
A senior state official said: “We cannot immediately term this as an ‘increase’ in cases. We will have to monitor the situation for a week to reach a conclusion. All respiratory infections show a surge during June-September. We are seeing a slight rise in Covid only over the last three to four days.”
Dr Ameet Dravid, an infectious diseases expert from Noble Hospital in Pune, said: “One Covid death has been reported in the hospital recently. We have seen over 10 Covid cases in the last 15 days or so, and most were mild. Three patients landed up in the ICU. They were either elderly or had severe comorbidities. We are seeing an increase in patients with flu-like symptoms, most of whom are turning positive for viruses like rhinovirus, influenza, H1N1, H3N2 and Covid.”
Dr Madhur Rao, senior deputy medical administrator at Mumbai’s KEM Hospital, said: “There have been three positive Covid-19 cases at the hospital in the past week or so. The hospital is closely monitoring the situation for an potential increase in cases.”
Dr Ishwar Gilada, an infectious diseases expert and secretary-general, Organised Medicine Academic Guild, said, “Although vaccine immunity may wane, activated memory cells offer protection. No increase in hospitalisation, ICU cases, or deaths has been observed so far. So, there is no need to panic.”