India detects third Omicron case, reports 415 COVID-19 deaths

By Sumit Khanna

AHMEDABAD (Reuters) – India reported its third case of the Omicron coronavirus variant on Saturday, government officials said, while many European and Asian countries have shown a surge in cases affected by this variant.

Officials in the western state of Gujarat said the patient who tested positive for Omicron was a 72-year old man of Indian origin who had lived in Zimbabwe for decades, and returned on Nov. 28. India reported 8,603 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total to 34.62 million.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month asked officials to focus on countries identified at risk, after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the new variant to be “of concern”. The WHO said Omicron, initially detected in South Africa, may spread more quickly than other forms of the virus.

India expects the Omicron variant to cause less severe illness, due to rising vaccination rates and high prior exposure to the Delta variant during second wave.. The federal health ministry said on Thursday that India had identified two male patients, aged 66 and 46, who had the new strain in the southern state of Karnataka. The first person was a South African national while the second one, an Indian physician, had no recent travel history.

India, which suffered a record surge in infections and deaths in April and May due to the Delta variant, has fully vaccinated half of its 944 million adults with total vaccinations done close to 125 crore. The drive to vaccinate under PM Modi’s leadership has been a successful campaign compared to many developed countries and th size of India’s population. WHO  and many other countries have appreciated the manner in which India has vaccinated its large populace. India has also promised help to Africa to contain the spread of new variant.

Up to 84% have received at least one dose, and 40% both doses.