NEW DELHI: A new Omicron sub-variant has been detected in the majority of samples taken from Covid patients in Delhi as part of a study at the Lok Nayak Hospital here. A senior official of the hospital said the samples of these patients were sent for genome sequencing and analysed this week.
More than half of these samples have been detected with the new sub-variant BA 2.75 of Omicron, he said. Doctors at the 2,000-bed LNJP Hospital, the largest under the Delhi government, has been the mainstay of the capital’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic since its outbreak here in March 2020.
Doctors at the hospital, however, said cases in which these sub-variant was detected, the severity is less and patients are recovering faster, within five-seven days. Sources said the study involved 90 patients, and the new sub-variant is more transmissible. COVID-19 cases have seen a surge in the last two weeks or so.
More than 19,760 COVID-19 cases in total have been recorded in Delhi from August 1-10, according to official data shared by the city health department here. Besides, there been a nearly 50 per cent rise
in the number of containment zones in the city in this period.
Delhi on Wednesday reported eight fatalities due to coronavirus, the highest in nearly 180 days, and 2,146 new cases with a positivity rate of 17.83 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here.
CM Arvind Kejriwal had on Tuesday said Covid cases were on the rise in Delhi, but there was no need to panic as most of the new cases were mild in nature.
Severity remains low
Cases in which these sub-variant was detected, the severity is less and patients are recovering faster, within five-seven days, LNJP doctors said