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India records first Omicron death

05 Jan 2022

India yesterday (5) recorded the first death linked to the Omicron variant of Covid-19, after samples of a man in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, who died last week, showed the presence of the variant. Confirming the development, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Luv Aggarwal said: “Technically, it is an Omicron-related death. He was an elderly person. The person is reported to have comorbidities, like diabetes, among others.” The 73-year-old man, who was found infected with Omicron in genome sequencing and who had tested negative for the infection twice, died in a Udaipur hospital on 31 December 2021, according to a report in news agency PTI. He died due to post-Covid pneumonia coupled with comorbidities (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypothyroidism), Udaipur Chief Medical Health Officer (CMHO) Dr. Dinesh Kharadi had said. The man had tested positive for Covid-19 on 15 December and was hospitalised with symptoms like fever, cough, and rhinitis. The genome sequencing result received on 25 December revealed that the man was infected with the Omicron variant. Yesterday, India’s active caseload crossed the two lakh mark, with a single-day spike of 58,097 Covid-19 cases. According to National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) Head of Covid Working Group Dr. N.K. Arora, India is already witnessing the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. The rise in cases has been spurred by the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, of which India currently has 2,135 cases, according to the Union Ministry of Health. India has reported a more than 6.3-time rise in Covid-19 cases in the last eight days, the Government has said, while adding that a sharp increase has been witnessed in case positivity from 0.79% on 29 December 2021 to 5.03% on 5 January 2022. Stating that Maharashtra, West Bengal, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand, and Gujarat have emerged as states of concern due to a surge in Covid-19 cases, the Union Health Ministry added that 28 districts in the country have been reporting more than 10% weekly positivity, while 43 districts have reported weekly positivity between 5% and 10%. (Agencies)


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