Thailand Ministry of Health reports 26,840 new COVID-19 cases and an additional 97 deaths since yesterday. The ministry also announced that an additional 23,412 patients recovered from the COVID-19 virus.
On Saturday, Thailand reported the first case of Omicron XE, a combination of the previous variants of Omicron. The World Health Organization announced the variant on the same day. The Center for Medical Genomics in Ramathibodi Hospital reported the mutant hybrid of the BA.1 and BA.2 variants.
The center announced the discovery through its Facebook page. The sample was taken from a Thai patient. The XE mutant is different from Deltacron which is the combination of Omicron and Delta.
The WHO announced that the XE variant is more transmissible than the original strains of Omicron. There are no additional data on its virulence as well as if it is more fatal than the main strain.
Deltacron, a hybrid of the Delta and Omicron strains, does not spread quickly or cause severe symptoms. Massarray Genotyping has studied the sequence and reported its findings.
Omicron XE was first detected in the United Kingdom on Jan 19 this year and more than 600 sequences were reported. UK Health Services Agency (UKHSA) said Omicron XE is 10% more transmissible than BA.2 and 43% more transmissible than the original Omicron (B.1.1.529). It remains to be seen if Omicron XE will become the dominant strain, the center said.
According to Phylogenetic Assignment of Named Global Outbreak Lineages (Pangolin), there are two recombinants of Delta and BA.1, which are XD and XF, and there are six recombinants of BA.1 and BA.2, which are XE, XG, XH, XJ, XK, and XL.
The government warned that COVID measures should be in place during the Songkran festival. The emergence of a new strain could delay the downgrading of COVID to an endemic status.