Ahmedabad: Gujarat has witnessed a four-fold rise in fortnightly Covid cases from 529 in May 21 to June 4 to 2,249 during June 5 to 19. The state has also recorded a 114-day high daily tally of 244 on Sunday. Experts say the spike could be a result of Omicron’s sub-variant BA.2.38.

According to data from Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC), the past month witnessed whole genomic sequencing of 431 samples from Covid patients. Of the total, 223 or 52% were found to be BA.2.38. 

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The BA.2.38 variant was first reported in the state in May and gained dominance in June. Till May, BA.2 – the dominant variant in India and many countries in the world – reigned in the state and in the past one month’s data, it accounted for 145 or 34% share in sequencing.

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