CHENNAI: The Omicron variant of the coronavirus completely replaced the Delta variant in Tamil Nadu this month, as per data from the Directorate of Public Health. As on Monday, 68.4 per cent of all whole genome sequenced samples were of the BA.2 variant, and 15.2 per cent were of the BA.1.1 variant.
The other variants were BA.1 (10.3 per cent), B.1.1.529 (6 per cent), and BA.3 (0.05 per cent). All these are variants of Omicron. No cases of Delta and other variants were detected. In January, 92 per cent of samples were of Omicron, and 4 per cent each were of Delta and other variants.
Director of Public Health Dr TS Selvavinayagam said the State will continue surveillance. In Europe, the United States, and other countries, the BA.2 variant led to a surge in Covid-19 cases. Tamil Nadu on Monday reported 33 Covid cases and no deaths due to the disease. Meanwhile, after a slight rise in new Covid cases in Chennai on Sunday, the tally dropped to 16 on Monday. On Sunday, Chennai reported 19 cases as against 12 on Saturday.
The State tested 28,916 samples, and recorded a test positivity rate of 0.1 per cent. Also, 26 districts in Tamil Nadu reported no new cases on Monday. Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan told TNIE there are no Covid-19 clusters in Chennai. The State is reporting cases of the BA.2 variant of Omicron, and though there is no need to panic, all Collectors have been told to stay alert, he added.
In a message to district Collectors on Sunday, Radhakrishnan had said that in the last two days, Chennai, Vellore and Chengalpattu have been showing variations though overall figures are only about 35 cases for 32,000 tests. “Now that we have been getting very few positive cases, these districts may review minor increases and take up control measures to avoid any opportunity for the cases to rise again,” Radhakrishnan added.