A 52-year-old woman from Bhind died of Covid-19-related complications at a Gwalior hospital late on Monday, taking Madhya Pradeshs virus death toll this year to five — all women. She had been admitted with severe lung inflammation and acute breathing difficulty. Diagnosed with hypersensitivity pneumonitis, she also tested positive for Covid-19, officials confirmed. The earlier deaths include a 52-year-old TB patient from Ratlam, a 44-year-old new mother from Khargone, a 74-year-old kidney patient in Indore, and a pregnant woman from Mandla. As of Tuesday, the states Covid-19 tally stands at 277 cases, with 82 active and 190 recoveries. All five fatalities involved comorbidities. The now-dominant XFG variant was found in 63.6% of recent samples, according to genome sequencing by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Bhopal. The previously dominant LF.7 variant has vanished. Among 44 samples sequenced from across districts, five showed a new sub-variant, XFG.3. No traces of the NB.1 (Nimbus) variant were found, the AIIMS report noted. XFG appears to have spread rapidly from late May, replacing LF.7 entirely by mid-June. Its mutations allow breakthrough infections, though symptoms remain mostly mild or absent. Doctors at AIIMS have stressed the need to institutionalise genome sequencing as a routine public health task across Madhya Pradesh. They said early identification of variants ensures faster response and better outbreak preparedness.

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