Omicron Found In 80% Of Samples Taken From Patients Who Died Of COVID-19 In Delhi

New Delhi: Eighty per cent of the samples taken from those who died of COVID-19 in Delhi till February 22 this year had the Omicron variant, according to government data. Genome sequencing of 239 samples collected from the expired showed 191 of them with the Omicron variant. The remaining 48 (20 per cent) had other variants of COVID-19, including Delta which fuelled the ferocious second wave of infections in April and May last year, and sub lineages. Overall, the Omicron variant was found in 92 per cent of the 626 samples analysed at genome sequencing laboratories in the capital till February 22 this year, according to the data. Two per cent of the samples had Delta, and other variants accounted for six per cent of the samples.

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The third wave of infections driven by the Omicron variant saw lesser hospitalisations and severe cases in the national capital and government data showed the virus isn’t the primary reason in most fatalities. A maximum of 2,784 (17.96 per cent) of the 15,505 COVID-19 beds in hospitals were occupied on January 17. During the second wave, 20,117 (92 per cent) of the 21,839 beds were occupied on May 6. The number of daily cases in Delhi has been declining after touching the record high of 28,867 on January 13. The city saw a positivity rate of 30.6 per cent on January 15 and 45 deaths on January 22, the highest in the third wave of the pandemic.

Amid the dip in cases, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Friday (February 25) decided to withdraw all Covid-related restrictions, including night curfew in Delhi, restart physical classes in schools from April 1 and reduce the fine for not wearing masks from Rs 2,000 to Rs 500.

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(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol have been working towards a clean and healthy India since 2014 via the Banega Swachh India initiative, which is helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. The campaign aims to highlight the inter-dependency of humans and the environment, and of humans on one another with the focus on One Health, One Planet, One Future – Leaving No One Behind. It stresses on the need to take care of, and consider, everyone’s health in India – especially vulnerable communities – the LGBTQ population, indigenous people, India’s different tribes, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disabilities, migrants, geographically remote populations, gender and sexual minorities. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign will continue to raise awareness on the same along with focussing on the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children, fight malnutrition, mental wellbeing, self care, science and health, adolescent health & gender awareness. Along with the health of people, the campaign has realised the need to also take care of the health of the eco-system. Our environment is fragile due to human activity, which is not only over-exploiting available resources, but also generating immense pollution as a result of using and extracting those resources. The imbalance has also led to immense biodiversity loss that has caused one of the biggest threats to human survival – climate change. It has now been described as a “code red for humanity.” The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene. Banega Swasth India will also be taking forward the dream of Swasth Bharat, the campaign feels that only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and the country can become a Swasth or healthy India.