No XBB 1.16 cases in Tamil Nadu: Health Dept officials

CHENNAI: As India continues to see a surge in the cases of Covid-19, variant XBB 1.16 is expected to be the reason behind the surge.

However, the State Health Department officials say that no case of the XBB 1.16 has been reported in Tamil Nadu so far.

The XBB variant has been active in the State as about 24 per cent of all the samples tested for prevalence of the Covid-19 variant revealed its presence but no cases of the sub-variant of XBB 1.16 have been reported.

The State Public Health Laboratory continues to test the samples for all the existing variants of the virus.

"The XBB 1.16 variant is not termed as a variant of concern despite being reported in about 5-6 States. Tamil Nadu has been reporting a rise in the cases for more than a month now but there have been no major outbreaks.

The international passengers are being screened at the airport as per the revised guidelines from the Union Health Ministry," an official from the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine said.

The revised guidelines state that social distancing, use of masks and hand washing should be followed effectively, especially in healthcare facilities. It also warns against the use of antibiotics and their availability as over the counter drugs is of concern as it can lead to antibiotics resistance and does not work against viral infections.