Covid surge linked to Omicron sub-lineages: NIV

National Institute of Virology (NIV) Wednesday said it is genome sequencing and isolating four new sub-variants of Omicron which are believed to be responsible for recent rise in Covid cases across India.
This effort will help in assessing vaccine effectiveness, Dr Naveen Kumar, director of Pune-based NIV under ICMR, said. An upsurge of Covid cases was noticed since the second week of April.
Kumar said that after genome sequencing of samples across India, four sub-variants of Omicron — LF.7, XFG, JN.1. 16 and NB. 1.8.1 — have been found.
Meanwhile, active Covid caseload in the country has marginally dropped. As of June 18, there are 6,483 active cases as compared to 6,837 cases.
Official sources have maintained that severity of infections has been low and most of the patients are being managed under home care. Since January 1, 113 deaths have been reported, primarily among individuals with pre-existing illnesses.