Covid in India is moving towards the endemic stage, so the cases may keep rising for the next 10-12 days after which they will subside, official sources said on Wednesday.

The sources said even though the cases are increasing, hospitalisation is low and expected to remain low.

The current rise in Covid cases is being driven by XBB.1.16, which is a sub variant of Omicron, they added.

While Omicron and its sub-lineages continue to be the dominant variant, most of the assigned variants have little or no significant transmissibility, disease severity or immune escape.

The prevalence of XBB.1.16 increased from 21.6 per cent in February this year to 35.8 per cent in March.

However, no evidence of an increase in hospitalisation or mortality has been reported, official sources said.

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