Those who were confirmed to have Omicron had mild symptoms such as fever, sore throat and body aches. None of them required oxygen or were put on a ventilator.
Top officials told out of 34 patients of the Omicron variant treated at Delhi government’s Lok Nayak Hospital, one was fully vaccinated, with at least two persons having received a booster shot.
“So far, we have treated 34 persons with the new Omicron variant, of whom 18 have already been discharged. Barring one person, all others were vaccinated against Covid-19, which means the new variant is capable of infecting even those who have received their shots,” said Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director of Lok Nayak Said, which was the first hospital. It is designated as a treatment center for those who are suspected of being infected with the new variant.
Those who were confirmed to have Omicron had mild symptoms such as fever, sore throat and body aches. He added that none of them needed to be put on oxygen or ventilators.
“The good thing about the variant is that we have seen only mild symptoms in patients so far. However, it can also be caused by vaccination. If the infection starts spreading in the community, the fear is that those who remain without vaccination may have severe symptoms,” Dr. Kumar said.
He cautioned that since the three individuals recruited with Omicron had no travel history, the new version may have begun to spread in the community.
Of the 34 patients hospitalized with confirmed Omicron infection, five were citizens of European and African countries, while the remaining 29 were Indian nationals. Currently, with 57 patients, Delhi has the highest number of confirmed cases of Omicron, followed by Maharashtra.
Three of the 34 omicron patients of LNJP had no history of foreign travel, suggesting that the new variant is in the community. The encouraging observation is that, as elsewhere, these patients also showed mild symptoms – although this may have been due to vaccination.
Other patients from Delhi have been admitted to private hospitals like Sir Ganga Ram, Max (Saket), Fortis (Vasant Kunj), and Batra Hospital (Tughlakabad), which have also been designated as treatment centers for the new version.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Wednesday said fearing to be inspired by the new edition, no program or gathering to celebrate Christmas and New Year will be allowed in the city.
This comes a day after the Center directed states to impose stricter restrictions in districts reporting high positivity rates, saying the omicron variant is less than the highly permeable delta variant driving the second wave of infections in the country. At least three times more permeable.
COVID-19 UPDATE on 23 Dec 2021
- 139.70 cr vaccine doses have been administered so far under Nationwide Vaccination Drive
- India’s Active caseload currently stands at 78,291
- Active cases account for less than 1% of total cases, currently at 0.23%; Lowest since March 2020
- Recovery Rate currently at 98.40%; Highest since March 2020
- 6,960recoveries in the last 24 hours increases Total Recoveries to 3,42,08,926
- 7,495 new cases in the last 24 hours
- Daily positivity rate (0.62%) less than 2% for last 80 days
- Weekly Positivity Rate (0.59%) less than 1% for last 39days
- 66.86cr Total Tests conducted so far.