Following the alert from the World Health Organization (WHO) possibility of mass infection from New Covid-19 mutant XE, Ministry of Health and Population has directed all the hospitals to remain careful.

According to WHO, a new mutant of Covid-19 called 'XE' appears to be about ten per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron.

“We have already directed health institutions all over the country to take all precautionary measures to prevent any further escalation,” said Dr. Sangeeta Kaushalya Mishra, Spokesperson of Ministry of Health and Population in her regular press briefing.

Until now, the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron was considered the most contagious strain of Covid-19. If this new research is confirmed, it would make XE the most transmissible Covid-19 mutant yet.

Meanwhile, the BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron is spreading across different regions of the world, now accounting for a majority of new Covid-19 cases in the US.

The new variant, XE, is a mutant hybrid of two versions of Omicron - BA.1 and BA.2. It only accounts for a small fraction of cases across the globe at the moment.

The XE recombinant (BA.1-BA.2), was first detected in the UK on January 19 and less than 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since," the WHO said in a report released earlier this week.