Within a few days of lifting all Covid-19 related curbs, including mandatory wearing of masks and maintaining physical distancing, Maharashtra reported India’s first case of Coronavirus variant XE on April 6 in Mumbai. However, within hours, the Union Health Ministry disagreed saying the present evidence does not suggest that it is an XE variant. Since it is only a preliminary assessment of one variant, and there may emerge others, India needs utmost care and preparedness for any eventuality. The fact is that this new variant has been detected in Britain and it will need a few days for this to infect people in India. The official media release by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has not only reported the first case of Coronavirus variant XE but also one case of the Kappa variant. The patients with the new variants of the virus, however, did not have any severe symptoms so far.
An official from the Union Health Ministry has been quoted saying “FASTQ files in respect of the sample, which is being said to be XE variant, were analyzed in detail by genomic experts of INSACOG who have inferred that genomic constitution of this variant does not correlate with a genomic picture of XE variant.” Even an additional commissioner of BMC has been quoted saying, “As per the guidelines of the WHO, the BA2 and XE is at par so far, the spreadability is concerned. As of now, there is nothing to worry about.” Both the statements may be true but only partially since these statements are focused on only ‘infection’ and ‘virulence’. However, when we consider these statements from the larger perspective of health and related crises, they present a false picture of the situation creating a dangerous level of complacency both among the people and authorities dealing with the crises. BMC has said about 230 samples were sent for genome sequencing, out of which 228 were found infected by the Omicron BA2 variant, one had Kappa, and one was infected with XE.
India also needs to be more vigilant and careful about even on XE variant, since it is a ‘recombinant’ mutation of BA.1 and BA.2 Omicron strains. One should note that a recombinant mutation emerges when a patient is infected by multiple variants, which mix up their genetic material during replication and form a new mutation. Moreover, India and all its states should always keep in mind that the country not only has scarce medical facilities but also has about 13 lakh allopathic doctors registered with state medical councils and the National Medical Commission as of November 2021 for all sorts of diseases. Thus, we have one allopathic doctor for about 1076 people. On April 5, 2022, the Union minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya had told Rajya Sabha that there were only 13 lakh allied and healthcare professionals in the country. The number of registered nursing personnel according to India Nursing Councils records is 33 lakh which includes about 23 lakh registered nurses and midwives and 10 lakh nurse associates. Thus, we have only 1.96 nurses per 1,000 populations. We don’t even have manpower to handle large-scale hospitalisation with or without the need for Oxygen or ICU.
