The current rise in Covid cases is being driven by XBB.1.16, which is a sub-variant of Omicron and has taken India's corona situation to an endemic stage. Resulting in an increased caseload for the next 10-12 days after which they will subside, official sources said on Wednesday. The sources said even though the cases are increasing, hospitalisation is low and expected to remain low.
While Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant, most of the assigned variants have little or no significant transmissibility, disease severity or immune escape. The prevalence of XBB.1.16 increased from 21.6 per cent in February this year to 35.8 per cent in March.
However, no evidence of an increase in hospitalisation or mortality has been reported, official sources said.
India has registered a single-day rise of 7,830 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 223 days, and the count of active cases in the country has increased to 40,215. The death toll due to the disease has increased to 5,31,016 with 16 new fatalities being reported – two each in Delhi, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, and one each in Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, and five reconciled by Kerala. The tally of Covid cases in the country was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,47,76,002), it showed.
