Two more cases of BA.5 variant found in Maharashtra in Thane

MUMBAI, (PTI): Maharashtra on Tuesday reported two more cases of the BA.5 variant of coronavirus, the state health department said. Both the patients, found in Thane city, had been vaccinated.

They recovered from the infection in home isolation, the department said in a press release.

One of them was a 25-year-old woman and the other a 32-year-old man. They were found to have contracted coronavirus infection on May 28 and 30, respectively. According to the B.J. Medical College, Pune, in the Whole Genome Sequencing of recent samples in Maharashtra, BA.2 was the most prominent variant followed by BA.2.38, the health department said.

On June 7, a case of BA.5 variant of SARS-COV-2 was reported in a 31-year old woman from Pune, it said. On June 13, three patients of BA.4 and one of BA.5 Omicron sub-variants of coronavirus were found in Mumbai. On May 28, for the first time in Maharashtra, four patients of B.A.4 sub-lineage and three cases of BA.5 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant of coronavirus were found.

The sub-lineages of Omicron were found in April in some parts of the world including South Africa. Last week, cases were also reported in Tamil Nadu and Telangana. (PTI)