The National Institute of Health (NIH) on Tuesday clarified that no case of Omicron’s sub-variant BF.7 is detected in Pakistan so far. According to the spokesperson for the NIH, since its appearance, a total of 29 cases of XBB (Omicron) have been reported from Pakistan, and made it clear that this is not the BF.7 variant which is spread in the neighbouring country. Clarifying the news circulating about the new COVID variant, the spokesperson said that such news was not accurate as the reported variant in some areas of the country is XBB, which is an old variant of Omicron. Based on observations, BF.7 is more contagious than other sub-variants of Omicron, but less virulent. Infection with BF.7 has a much lower risk of hospitalisation and severe Covid. However, BF.7 infection can be severe in those with high blood pressure, kidney diseases, diabetes, or other comorbidities and in those aged over their sixties. According to health experts, BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant – the dominant variant circulating globally of the Sars-CoV-2 coronavirus. It has a 4.4-fold higher neutralization resistance than the original D614G variant. This means, in a laboratory setting, antibodies from a vaccinated or infected individual are less likely to destroy BF.7 than the original virus first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. This sub-variant also has a shorter incubation period and a higher capacity to cause reinfection or infect even those vaccinated. The XBB.1.5 variant of Covid is actually a sub-variant of XBB. It is made of a combination or say mutation of BA.2.75 and BA.2.10.1.