Covid XBB, BQ lineages most common in international fliers

Additionally, travellers from six countries — China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Thailand — also need to upload a negative RT-PCR report from not more than 72 hour before boarding a flight.

The sequences of all 124 passengers found to be positive for the infection were sent for whole genome sequencing. Reports for 40 samples have been received, with recombinant XBB lineages having the highest prevalence, followed by BQ lineages. In all, nine lineages were seen in these 40 samples.

Data from the Health Ministry shows that 14 of 40 samples for which reports have come back contained XBB lineages; nine had BQ lineages; three were CH lineages; two each for BA.5.2 and BN lineages; and one each for BF.7.4.1, BB.3, BY.1, and BF.5.

The current surge in cases being reported from China is caused by two variants — BA.5.2 and BF.7 — as per a statement from WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution. Of the two, BA.5.2, has been reported from India May 2022 onwards.

The variant BF.7 accounted for 1.2% of samples sequenced in December 2022, according to Indian Sars-CoV-2 genomic sequencing consortium, INSACOG.

The XBB variant — a recombination of omicron sub-variants BA.2.10.1 and BA.2.75 — is currently the dominant variant circulating in India, accounting for 40.3% of all sample sequences in December 2022, according to data from INSACOG. The XBB lineages are currently overtaking others in the United States as well, with it accounting for 44.1% of cases increasing from 21.7% the previous week.

The BQ lineages are also gaining ground in India, with the proportion of BQ lineages increasing from 3.6% of the sequences in November to 14.6% in December, according to INSACOG data.

Although India is not at an increased threat from the new variants, experts say there is a need to remain watchful.