With Omicron subvariant BF.7 driving China's drastic surge in Covid cases, four cases of the subvariant have been reportedly detected in India so far.
Three BF.7 positive cases were reported from Gujarat and one from Odisha.
The first case of BF.7 in India was detected in October by Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre.
The BF.7 variant is spreading in Beijing and is contributing to a wider surge of Covid infections in that country.
BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5 and has the strongest infection ability since it is highly transmissible, has a shorter incubation period, and has a higher capacity to cause reinfection or infect even those vaccinated.
It has already been detected in several other countries, including the US, the UK and European nations such as Belgium, Germany, France and Denmark.
