Omicron XE COVID-19 Mutant Variant Discovered in Thailand
Omicron XE, a combination of two previous variants of Omicron, has been reported in Thailand for the first time, shortly after the World Health Organization (WHO) warned about the new hybrid.
The mutant hybrid of the BA.1 and BA.2 variants, Omicron XE was reported by the Center for Medical Genomics, Ramathibodi Hospital.
XE recombinant was discovered by genomic sequencing of a Thai patient’s swab sample, according to a post on the center’s Facebook page.
The center claims that the recombinant XE is not the Deltacron variant.
Although the severity of the new Coronavirus is still under investigation, the WHO warned on Tuesday that XE may be the most transmittable strain.
According to the WHO, another new strain, Deltacron, a hybrid of the Delta and Omicron strains, does not spread quickly or cause severe symptoms based on the unverified finding via MassArray Genotyping.
More than 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since Omicron XE was first detected in the United Kingdom on Jan 19 this year.
Omicron XE a dominant strain
Based on reports from the UK Health Services Agency (UKHSA), the center stated that Omicron XE is 10% more transmittable than BA.2 and 43% more transmissible than the original Omicron (B.1.1.529).
The center said it remains to be seen if Omicron XE will become the dominant strain.
Based on the Phylogenetic Assignment of Named Global Outbreak Lineages (Pangolin) report, there are two recombinants of Delta and BA.1, XD and XF, and six recombinants of BA.1 and BA.2, XE, XG, XH, XJ, XK, and XL.
The Public Health Ministry reported 28,029 new Covid-19 cases and 96 additional deaths on Saturday.
The total does not include 14,229 positive results from antigen tests, which would bring it to 42,258.
The city of Bangkok reported the highest number of daily cases with 3,373, an increase of 23 from Friday’s number of 3,350, followed by Chon Buri with 1,507 cases, Nakhon Si Thammarat with 1,128 cases, Samut Sakhon with 936 cases, Samut Prakan with 930 cases, Songkhla with 762 cases, Chachoengsao with 735 cases, Nakhon Pathom with 688 cases, Ayutthaya with 665 cases
