Most 5th wave Covid victims in Delhi had Omicron, but were comorbid: Study

The latest, more comprehensive data is based on whole genome sequencing of samples taken from nearly a tenth of all Covid-19 fatalities that occurred in the month

Over 90% of the genotyped samples taken from people who died after a Covid-19 infection turned out to be of the Omicron variant, according to data collected by the Delhi health department, but most of these were incidental coronavirus-positive cases that were detected when people with more serious illness were administered mandatory tests at hospitals.

Volunteers and relatives perform the last rites of a Covid-19 victim at the Seemapuri cremation ground in New Delhi. (Raj K Raj/HT File)

Throughout the month of January, when the Omicron variant-induced wave peaked, analyses showed that most deaths classified as Covid-19 fatalities were in people who were in critical condition due to other illnesses or were people who were unvaccinated.

The latest, more comprehensive data is based on whole genome sequencing of samples taken from nearly a tenth of all Covid-19 fatalities that occurred in the month. “It will be grossly wrong to say that these deaths happened purely because of Covid-19. A majority of those who died and were found infected with Omicron in January had severe comorbid conditions like advanced stage cancer, liver disease, hearth disease, kidney disease and other diseases and were on long term treatment for the comorbid conditions,” said an official, who asked not to be named.

“Since Omicron was the dominant variant in January, a majority of the people were infected with Omicron, so were those who died,” said this person, before adding that over 60% of the deaths were in people above 60 years of age.

In the rest of the deaths, 1% were found to be infected with Delta and 7% had some other variant.

Delhi reported 825 Covid-19 deaths in January, a second person aware of the analysis said, adding that among them, 63% were unvaccinated and only 16% were fully vaccinated – the rest had one shot or were ineligible to take a dose.

The report was presented at the Delhi Disaster Management Authority’s (DDMA) meeting on Friday when the agency, headed by the lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, reviewed the Covid-19 outbreak in the Capital and lifted most of the curbs, allowing schools to reopen for 9-12 classes from February 7. The Delhi government has formed a Covid death analysis committee to review each death that takes place during the current wave.

According to documents seen by HT, Delhi government sent 310 samples of deceased from the month of January to labs for Sars-COV-2 genome sequencing out of which 98 samples were analysed. The analysis revealed that 90 of the samples were of Omicron.

A cause of deaths was not immediately available. To be sure, it is not clear if Covid further complicated the existing comorbidities.

“The analysis of the deceased underlines that coronavirus is fatal for those with serious comorbid conditions and all such people must take their Covid vaccine on time and strictly follow all Covid protocols regarding Covid appropriate behaviour,” the official said.

A senior doctor posted in a government hospital said since most of them were terminally ill they did not have high chances of surviving for a long period. “But since they had Covid, they were counted as Covid deaths. Not even a single person without comorbid conditions who has found infected with Omicron has died in my knowledge,” the doctor, who did not want to be named, said.

Dr Jugal Kishore, the head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung Hospital, said it is well known that third wave is mainly due to Omicron variant which is highly transmissible. “Majority of times comorbidity was the cause of deaths in hospitals. Patients admitted for some other reasons coincidently found positive for Covid also. People with multiple diseases were less vaccinated due to various concern of complications. Another reason is that older people have received lesser vaccine as compared to younger and elders usually have high multiple diseases,” Dr Kishore said.