Kerala govt intensifies measures as new Covid subvariants rise globally

The health minister also urged people to take precautions and continue to wear masks.

With new Covid-19 sub-variants being reported from across the world, the Kerala government on Monday said it is intensifying preventive measures in the state. Health minister Veena George said the new genetic variants – XBB and XBB1 – are “more contagious than the earlier ones”.

She further urged people, especially the elderly and those suffering from comorbidities, to be more careful, reported news agency PTI.

“Since the elderly and those with co-morbidities are more likely to be severely affected by the new Covid variants, they, as well as healthcare workers must take the booster/ precautionary dose of the vaccine,” George said.

The health minister also urged people to take precautions and continue to wear masks.

According to her, around 1.8 per cent of those infected by the variants may require hospitalisation, while adding that “as of now there was no cause for concern”.

On Saturday, a report quoting the latest federal data said the new Omicron Covid-19 variants that experts say appear to spread easily are on the rise in the United States.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates released on Friday, the two Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 could represent a combined 11.4% of US Covid infections by mid-October, a Wall Street Journal report said.

Meanwhile, new sub-variants BA.5.1.7 and BF.7, which are said to be highly infectious and have greater transmissibility after emerging from a region of Mongolia in China, are making their way to different parts of the world.

According to recent reports, the first case of BF.7 has been found in India.

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