Omicron Spreading In Odisha! 32 More Found Infected As 76% Samples Test Positive

Bhubaneswar: Odisha reported 32 more Omicron cases, taking the tally to 202 on Saturday.

The rate of infection was found to be 76 per cent as these cases were detected from 42 samples sent to the Institute of Life Science (ILS), Bhubaneswar, for genome sequencing, sources said.

During the last genome sequencing of community samples, drawn from nine districts between December 29 and January 9, at ILS, 74.5 per cent were found infected with Delta variant and the rest Omicron.

The ILS director, Ajay Parida, had told the media that Delta may be dominant as per the latest data, but Omicron sub-type BA.2 is fast replacing it in the state. “We will conduct the sequencing of 250 more community samples on Monday. The samples will include the cases from January 10. This will give a clear picture on Omicron presence here,” he was quoted as saying by the national daily.

Also Read: Indications Of Community Spread Of Omicron In Delhi, Says ILBS Study

Notably, the state had seen a massive jump in the Omicron tally after 67 more people tested positive for this variant of COVID-19 on January 12.

On January 10, 28 new Omicron cases were detected and among them, 18 had international travel history. Of the cumulative 103 cases then, 83 were detected in the last 10 days.

On January 9, 14 Omicron cases were detected while January 5 saw 24 people testing positive for this variant in the state.

It was on December 21 that the first two cases of Omicron was detected in Odisha and another two were found infected by this variant of COVID-19 on December 23, four on December 26, one on December 29, five on December 30 and 23 on January 2.

Omicron cases tally in India now stands at 6,041.