Omicron and its sub lineages continue to be dominant variant in India: INSACOG

Despite the infection rate of Covid 19 is on the downslide, the Indian SARS-Cov-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) in its latest bulletin claimed that BA.2 and its descendent lineages have been found over the last week in different parts of India.

New Delhi: The Indian SARS-Cov-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) has reiterated that Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant in India even as the infection rate of Covid19 has witnessed a declining trend. It, however, said that any surge in hospitalization or any disease severity has not been observed in India.

In its latest bulletin, INSACOG said that BA.2 and its descendent lineages, in particular, BA.2.75 has been mostly found over the last week in different parts of India. "The incidence of BA.5 has decreased in the last few weeks," the INSACOG said.

Globally as well, the number of new weekly cases decreased by 12 percent during the last week as compared to the previous week. "The number of new weekly deaths decreased by 5 percent, as compared to the previous week. The Omicron is the most abundant variant of concern (VOC) circulating worldwide, accounting for 99.4 percent of sequences reported globally," the INSACOG said. It said that BA.5 Omicron descendent lineages continue to be dominant globally, with an increase in weekly prevalence from 84.8 percent to 86.8 percent.

"The prevalence of BA.4 descendent lineages including BA.4.6 decreased during last week. The prevalence of BA.2 descendent lineages (BA.2.X) remained constant last week. BA.2.75, an Omicron descendent lineage under monitoring, still shows a relatively low prevalence globally, however, a number of countries have observed recent increasing trends," the INSACOG said.

It also pointed out that a good number of people have already been vaccinated. INSACOG is a consortium set up by the Union Health Ministry to study and monitor genome sequencing and virus variation of circulating strains of Covid19 in India.

The number of total active cases in India at present stands at 24043 whereas 44087748 people have been cured and 528967 deaths have also been reported due to Covid19.