Covid positivity less than 1pc despite presence of BF.7 sub-variant: NIH

KARACHI: Experts of the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) said Tuesday they had detected the BF.7 subvariant of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 through genome sequencing in Karachi, saying the patient infected with the highly infectious sub-variant had no travel history.

“Our researchers have found a local person infected with the BG.7 sub-variant of omicron variant of the Covid-19. The person has no travel history, which means that the highly infectious sub-variant is present and circulating in Pakistan,” an official of the DUHS told The News.

Despite the presence of the highly infectious variants, including XBB.1.5 and BF.7, Covid-19 remained less than one per cent in Pakistan on Tuesday when only 19 positive cases were reported throughout the country, National Institute of Health Islamabad officials said, adding that Covid-19 was posing no serious risk to people due to massive vaccination and natural immunity.