NEW DELHI: 84 per cent of all the COVID-19 samples tested in Delhi are of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, stated Satyender Jain, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of NCT of Delhi on Monday, January 3. The Health Minister told news agency PTI that Omicron strain was discovered in 84 per cent of samples in genome sequencing data from December 30-31.
The capital has registered roughly 4000 new cases of the novel coronavirus, according to a health bulletin released later on Monday, and the positive rate has grown to 6.5 per cent, according to Jain. In India, the Omicron variant has spread to 23 states. With 510 cases, Maharashtra is the worst-affected state, followed by Delhi with 351 infections.
In state-run hospitals and clinics, Jain claims there is no shortage of medical personnel. Cases of the COVID-19 have been on the rise in the city. “According to genome sequencing data from three labs on December 30-31, 84 per cent of samples were contaminated with Omicron, according to studies from the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences, Lok Nayak Hospital, and the National Centre for Disease Control. The majority of the cases are Omicron-related.”, Jain stated.
On Sunday, the city reported 3194 new COVID-19 cases, up 15 per cent from Saturday. One person has died, bringing the total number of deaths since the outbreak began to 25,109 as of Sunday evening.
Despite the increase in cases, Jain assured that the situation is under control because few people get severe sickness or require hospitalisation. According to him, some experts believe the cases would peak in a week, but this is merely a guess at this point.