Hours after the World Health Organization (WHO) talked about the new coronavirus XE mutant, which is composed of the two strains BA1 and BA2 from Omicron, and its confirmation that it is difficult to determine whether this mutant will be catastrophic, Egypt’s Ministry of Health and Population also commented on the new strain to clear the facts.
The spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Population, Hossam Abdel-Ghaffar, said on the ministry’s Facebook page preliminary analysis shows that it is 10 percent more transmissible compared to Ba2 but not as likely to spread.
Abdel-Ghaffar said that public health experts confirmed that this type of mutation is very common, and often appears and disappears on its own, assuring that so far there are no real public health concerns associated with this mutant.
The WHO cautioned of the XE in its COVID-19 Weekly Epidemiological Update issued on March 29.
It said that “The XE recombinant (BA.1-BA.2), was first detected in the United Kingdom on 19 January and under 600 cases have been reported and confirmed since.
“XE belongs to the Omicron variant until significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics, including severity, may be reported” and added that it continues to closely follow the public health risk of these new strains while providing constant updates.
