Which of the following is a COVID-19 Omicron hybrid strain, which was found in April 2022?

Correct option is A

The correct answer is (A) XE.

• The Omicron variant, which is responsible for over 90% of the infections detected in 2022, has two prominent sub-variants, called BA.1 and BA.2.
• The XE variant is what is called a ‘recombinant’. This means it contains the mutations found in BA.1 as well as BA.2 varieties of Omicron. Recombinant variants are not uncommon. For example, variants that contain the characteristic mutations of Delta and Omicron have also been identified.

• This was first discovered in the United Kingdom in January 2022, and so far more than 600 samples of XE have been found in different countries.
• In fact, variants that contain the characteristic mutations of Delta and Omicron have also been identified.