A new COVID variant dubbed Arcturus has caused a huge uptick in infections in India, with the World Health Organization (WHO) classifying it as a variant of interest.
The XBB.1.16 strain of the virus is a sub-variant of Omicron and has led the Indian government to take out measures to stop its spread. `
The country has asked states to identify emergency hotspots and ramp up-testing for COVID-19, after it recorded its highest daily case counts since September.
There were 7,830 new cases of COVID-19 reported on Wednesday, the health ministry said, with the active caseload surging to 40,215.
