NEW DELHI: Following the detection of two new Omicron sub-variants, BF.7 and BA.5.1.7- which are said to be highly infectious with greater transmissibility in China, fresh lockdowns are being mulled in the world's second-biggest economy.
BF.7, also known as BA.2.75.2, is a sub-lineage of Omicron variant BA.5.2.1, a dominant strain of Covid.
1,760 new local infections were reported on Wednesday by China's national health commission for the previous day. The cases were found primarily in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Xian.
According to a Global Times report on Monday, the new Omicron variant BF.7 has swept to more provinces in China on Monday, less than a week after it was first identified in Northwest China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. On October 4, the BF.7 variant was detected in Shaoguan and Yantai cities.
Media reports emerging from China said that BF.7 being a sub variant of Omicron, the dominant variant of Covid, it has ability for enhanced immunity evasion, when compared to its parental strain. Omicron variant and its sub variants are infamous for their immunity escaping properties.
Apart from China, the BF.7 sub-variant is also spreading fast in Belgium, Germany, France and Denmark and England.
According to data released by the US Centre for Disease Control (CDC), BF.7 accounts for 4.6% of the total active COVID cases in the US. BA.5 and BA.4.6 continue to remain the top two most infectious Covid variants, while BF.7 is currently at the third spot.
Apart from these sub- variants, BA.2.75 and BA.4 account for 1.8% and 0.8% of the total cases in the US.
With BF.7 is gaining hold, it is a matter of time before other two variants overtake it.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), on October 4, had said that Omicron is currently the dominant variant circulating worldwide, accounting for more than 98% of viral sequences shared on Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data (GISAID) after February 2022. This is for the first time since the pandemic happened that a single variant with its sub variants has been in circulation for around one year.
Keeping in mind the sub- variant's high transmission rate and the data of its infection, there is a warning from health experts that a surge in infections is likely during this winter.
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