Omicron Variant BF.7 Detected In India. Will It Be The Next Pandemic Wave?

The first case of Covid-1 was detected in China. After that the world had to suffer for almost 2 years. Now again an Omicron Variant BF.7 has been detected in India, after China.

A novel sub-variant, Omicron, of the highly infectious coronavirus Omicron is responsible for the current rise in Covid-19 infection in China.

China is currently experiencing an unprecedented Covid-19 rise, and the Chinese healthcare system has become overburdened. 

Reports of medicine shortages raise concerns that Chinese officials may be concealing the true extent of the infection.

China’s Covid-19 growth is being driven by the BF.7 Omicron Sub-variant. China’s “Zero Covid” policy was relaxed after a series of large-scale demonstrations across the country. Projections show that China’s Covid-19 situation will worsen over the winter.

Omicron sub-variants can quickly override immunity that someone has acquired, either by natural means or vaccinations against an older Covid form. There have been concerns that this ability to quickly circumvent immunity could lead to a fourth pandemic.

The BF.7 subvariant has a greater “immune escape capability” than the earlier Omicron variants BA.1, BA.2, or BA.5. Comparable to Delta’s reproduction number (R0), which was 5-6, BF.7’s R was 10.

Gujarat was the first to discover BF.7 subvariant in India. The symptoms of this sub-variant infection could be similar to the flu. 

According to health professionals, symptoms of this sub-variant infection are mild to severe fever, severe throat infections, cold, discomfort and body aches, in contrast to Delta.

High transmissibility of BF.7 means that sub-variants can infect a large number of people in a relatively short time.

Chinese medical experts believe that the new Omicron subvariant has a higher transmission rate and a shorter incubation period than other Omicron sub variants.

Experts from India believe that China’s spike is due to China’s zero-COVID policy. It has been in place since 2020. 

A large number of people were able to escape the pandemic quickly, so they were not exposed for long to Alpha or Delta. They are now infected by the Omicron sub-variant.