An analysis of samples obtained from 20 people who died due to COVID-related ailments from January 1 through 24 has shown that all of them were infected with the Omicron variant, revealed an official source.

The study was conducted by the Delhi government and noted that 14 of the 20 people had the BA.2 virus, an Omicron sub-variant. The Delhi government is looking at the severity and recovery among those who are infected with the BA.2 sub-variant.

The source revealed that samples of more than 200 people, who tested positive for COVID before or after their death, were sent for genome sequencing. Out of the 20 results received thus far, all have been found to be infected with the Omicron variant. The government is also exploring as to how many of the Omicron cases in Delhi are of BA.2 sub-lineage.

Dr. Jugal Kishore, Head of Department of Community Medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, said that doctors had initially come across the BA.1 sub-variant and BA.2 was considered a minor mutation. He further stated that there was no need to worry, adding that the Omicron variant found in the samples of the 20 deceased patients does not make it more dangerous. “Omicron is the dominating variant right now, so it is natural that it will reflect in the deaths too. Also, most of the deaths are due to comorbidities,” he said… (The Hindu, January 29, 2022)