COVID-19 in Mumbai: Omicron dominates over Delta

The Omicron variant was detected in 85 per cent of the samples sent for genome sequencing to the Kasturba Hospital laboratory, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said on Saturday.

With that, the total number of Omicron patients in the city has increased to 1,009.

The civic body had collected a total of 375 samples for eight batches in its genomic surveillance series of which 321 were detected with the Omicron variant, while the rest of the samples were detected with Delta and its subtypes.

“This report clearly shows that Delta has been completely overtaken by Omicron. Now, we are analysing how many of these patients are seriously ill and how many have died. So that we can know whether the Omicron variant is fatal or not. However, these findings will be revealed on Sunday (January 23),” said Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner.

Meanwhile, 416 patients with Omicron infection have been reported in the state. Out of these, 321 were reported by Kasturba Hospital Laboratory, while the remaining were reported by NIV, Pune.

Currently, a total of 2,759 patients infected with the Omicron variant have been reported in Maharashtra. Of these, 1,225 cases have been discharged following a negative-RT PCR test.

Although the symptoms are mostly common in both variants, in Delta, the severity is more with common symptoms like headache, runny nose, sneezing, sore throat and loss of smell. While in Omicron, most patients have fatigue along with joint pain, cold and headache.“

Published on: Sunday, January 23, 2022, 12:04 AM IST