In the steepest single-day spike in Omicron, Odisha on Wednesday logged 145 more variants of concerns taking the cumulative tally of the new strain to 347, an official of health and family department official said.
Of the 249 samples which were genome sequenced between January 9 and 16, as many as 145 were tested positive for the new variant. Around 60% of Covid+ samples were detected carrying the new variant. The Institute of Life Sciences (ILS) – Bhubaneswar is carrying out the genome sequencing of samples in the State. The ILS is the only laboratory in the state where a genome sequencing facility is available, the health official informed.
On 15 January last, 32 more people had tested positive for Omicron in Odisha as the tally had breached 200-mark to reach 202.
Most of the new Omicron cases are local contacts with no foreign travel history as the variant has started spreading in the locality, said an official.
The variant is highly transmissible. However its severity is on a lower side in comparison to the devastating delta surge, which had claimed hundreds of life, said health officials.
The state has so far reported the death of one Omicron infected woman and recovery of around 100 other patients from the variant. Odisha had reported its first Omicron case on 21 December. The tally had crossed 200-mark in 26 days.