A fast spreading XBB.1 descendent – XBB.1.16 – could be behind the recent surge in Covid cases in India, international and Indian scientists tracking the SARS-CoV2 variants told TOI on Tuesday. According to an international platform tracking Covid variants, the highest number of this sublineage’s sequences have come from India (48), followed by Brunei (22), the United States (15) and Singapore (14).