Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Monday said the Omicron variant has been found in 81% of COVID-19 positive samples in the city.
“In the last few days, 187 reports of genome sequencing have come out and of them, 152 people were found Omicron positive. Omicron is now the dominant variant in Delhi,” he said.
The Minister said the number of hospitalisations was less at present. “In the previous waves, a large number of patients were hospitalised. Till yesterday, only 202 patients from Delhi were in hospitals. While the number of [new] cases is increasing, the number of serious cases is not rising proportionally,” he said.
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Mr. Jain said the Delhi government was ready to fight any variant of the virus, and there were adequate numbers of beds available. “Almost 100% of people are vaccinated with the first dose and around 75% are vaccinated with the second dose.”
Vaccination for children between 15-18 years began on Monday.
There is no need to panic, the Minister said. “The only way to stop the spread of the virus is to always wear a mask when you step out and follow the COVID-19 guidelines. Prevention is better than cure. I urge people to get vaccinated as soon as possible,” he said.
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The Delhi government has stopped sending all positive COVID-19 samples for genome sequencing, an official said. The Hindu had reported last week that officials were planning not to send all samples for genome sequencing.
“Since the cases have gone up in the last three to four days, not all positive samples are being sent for genome sequencing,” the official said.
Earlier this month, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that all COVID-19 positive samples would be sent for genome sequencing.