Omicron’s BA.2 variant more prevalent in India now: Ministry of Health
“In genome sequencing, a huge increase in Omicron samples was observed between December and January,” government officials said.
As many as 9,672 samples of Omicron were found in January in genome sequencing, constituting 75% of total sequenced samples of COVID-19, a huge increase from December’s figure of 1,292, the government said. Thursday, January 27.
Addressing a press conference, the Director of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr. SK Singh, said that sub-lines of Omicron – BA.1 and BA.2 have been found in sequenced samples while BA.3 has not yet been found. “We were getting more BA.1 samples before, mostly found in travellers, but now we’re seeing BA.2 become more prevalent in the community,” Singh said. He further stated that a considerable increase in the number of Omicron samples in January was seen compared to December.
“In genome sequencing, a huge increase in Omicron samples was observed between December and January,” he said. In December, only 1,292 samples from omicron while 17,272 samples were from the Delta variant and AY series of COVID-19 in genomic sequencing.
In January, 9,672 omicron samples were found, about 75% of the total samples sequenced and the AY lineage was found in 3,201 samples and Delta was found in 1,578 samples, he said.
He further stated that the Delta variant was found mainly in Odisha, West Bengal and Maharashtra.
“It’s not that everywhere we only find Omicron cases, we also see Delta variant cases, which shows that the impact of the Delta variant is not completely over. In gravity and l ‘hospitalization, we can also find delta, so it’s important not to look at unilaterally hospitalized cases that it’s omicron so that would be mild,” he said.
Earlier this week, India’s SARS-COV-2 genomics consortium INSACOG said Omicron is in the community transmission phase in India and has become dominant in several metros, where new cases have increased exponentially, with lineage BA.2, an infectious sub-infection. variant of Omicron, found in a substantial fraction of the country.
