India reports 234 cases of mutated Omicron sub-variant XBB1.16.1

As the rising COVID cases in India have sparked fears of another wave, 234 cases of XBB1.16.1 mutated sub-variant have been found in the country, according to INSACOG data.

XBB1.16.1 is a mutation of Omicron's infectious XBB1.16 variant. The XBB1.16.1 has been found across 13 states and Union Territories, including Delhi, Gujarat and Haryana, the data showed.

According to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) data, 1,774 cases of the XBB1.16 variant have been found across 22 states and Union Territories, the data showed.

India recorded 5,676 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases increased to 37,093, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

Among the states, Kerala has reported the most active cases at 13,745, followed by Maharashtra (4,667), Delhi (2,338), Tamil Nadu (2,099), Gujarat (1932), Haryana (1928), Karnataka (1673), and Uttar Pradesh (1282), respectively. Other Indian states have recorded less than 1,000 active Covid cases as of 11 April.

While three deaths each were reported from Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan, two were recorded in Karnataka and one each in Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu besides six reconciled by Kerala.

The active cases now comprise 0.08 per cent of the total infections and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has been recorded at 98.73 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,42,00,079 and the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent.