Health experts say that in view of the new XE form of COVID-19, voluntary use of masks should be encouraged in the country and it is the most effective measure against all types of corona virus. After more than two years, the mandatory wearing of masks has been done away with in Maharashtra and Delhi.
Wearing a mask in public was mandatory in the wake of the COVID-19 infection and a fine of up to Rs 2,000 was imposed for non-compliance with this rule. When asked about the impact of the new version on India, experts said that there is no need to panic. , but voluntary use of masks in public should be encouraged. The wave of infections caused by Omicron in the country has been declining since February and since then the country has been seeing a decline in cases.
A Gujarat official said the first case of the XE variant was reported in the state on Saturday after the authorities obtained the genome sequencing results of a sample taken from a person from Mumbai. This person was found infected in the COVID-19 test during his visit to Vadodara on 12 March.
Earlier, Mumbai civic body officials had said that a woman who came from South Africa in late February was found to be COVID infected in March and is infected with the XE form, but this has not been confirmed by the Health Ministry.
The eminent virologist T Jakob Jan said that XE means that Xa, Xb, Xc and Xd were already present but none of them got much attention. Jan said, after the Omicron wave (mainly Ba.2) subsided by the third week of February, there was no cause for concern even when this one virus was confirmed as XE. There is no need to change our strategy. Giridhar R Babu, Professor and Head of Epidemiology Lifesystem at the Public Health Foundation of India, said the detection of XE variants should be seen as a strength of the surveillance system.