KARACHI: Member Sindh Corona Taskforce, Dr Faisal Mahmood on Wednesday urged masses to wear facemasks and avoid public gatherings after the detection of Covid’s new variant in Karachi.

While confirming the detection of cases of new Covid variant in Karachi, Dr Faisal Mahmood said the number of new variant Covid patients coming to hospitals is low.

He advised people to get themselves checked by doctors in case of illness. The masses of Sindh, who are ill, have been advised to use facemasks and asked to avoid visiting public places.

Dr Mahmood asked the masses not to worry about the detection of new Covid variant in Karachi. Earlier, the Sindh Health Department confirmed the presence of XBB and XBB-1 sub-variants of the Omicron variant in Karachi. Karachi has detected six cases of the new Covid-19 variant, XBB and XBB-1, the health department said in a statement. However, they confirmed that the South Asian country was still safe from the highly infectious variant – BF. According to reports, China is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases due to a strain that is a sub-variant of the highly infectious Omicron variant: BF.7 or BA.5.2.1.7.—INP