On Thursday, the government said that Omicron took over the Delta variant in January. The country had seen over 17,000 Delta and AY strain cases in December, but the trend reversed in January. Most Omicron cases in India found now were of the BA.2 sub-variant, which possibly was more infectious than the BA.1 found earlier.

Dr S K Singh, the Director of the National Centre for Disease Control said the two Omicron sub-variants BA.1 and BA.2 were found in sequenced samples but not BA.3. Among travellers, currently, BA.2 sub-variant had become more prevalent. A huge increase in Omicron samples was seen between December and January. Delta variant was more predominant in Odisha, West Bengal and Maharashtra. Severity and hospitalization were mostly found in delta variants, but the mildness of Omicron was not confirmed. Most of the deaths were linked to comorbidities and non-vaccination. 

The Union government said on Thursday that around 400 districts showed more than a 10% positivity rate in the week ending January 26 and precautions should be continued. Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan showed a high positivity rate, while a decline was observed in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Haryana and West Bengal. 

Lav Agarwal, the joint secretary in the Health Ministry said that the Top 10 states contribute to 77% of the total active cases in the country. Over 90% of these active cases were under home isolation with mild to moderate symptoms. On January 21 this year, 3,47,254 new cases and 435 deaths were reported. A total of 19,35,912 tests were conducted on the day, 95% of Indias adults have been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 75% population were fully vaccinated. 97.03 lakh healthcare, frontline workers and comorbid people aged 60 and above have been given the precaution dose of Covid vaccine while 59% of adolescents in the 15-18 year age group have received the first dose. 

He further said that fewer cases were needing oxygen-supported beds or ICU beds, less active cases and lower death rates, emphasizing the importance of vaccination providing support and reducing the severity of the cases in the country. 9,672 cases of Omicron variant were found on genome sequencing in January. He said that details of medicines that must be prescribed have been provided, webinars being held to disseminate clinical management protocols and all the doctors were requested to follow those. 

Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Health Minister on Friday reviewedthe Covid situation and the public health preparedness to tackle the omicron spread in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Lakshadweep, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortia INSACOG said that Omicron was in the community transmission stage in India and had become dominant in multiple metro cities where new cases were being reported due to the BA.2 lineage.

Source: The New Indian Express