A man who died in Udaipur on December 31 has been classified as the first death due to the Omicron variant in the country, officials said on Wednesday, after the fatality was reassigned as being linked to Covid-19.
Suffering from multiple comorbid conditions, the 73-year-old first tested positive on December 15 upon being hospitalised after having difficulty in breathing. He tested negative on December 21 and 25, and succumbed to his illness on December 31.
“The government confirmed the death in Rajasthan has been counted as Omicron death in India. We can say this is the first death in India,” Union health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said in Delhi on Wednesday.
Superintendent of Maharana Bhupal government hospital, Dr RL Suman, said the man was brought in for treatment after he complained of respiratory problems. During his admission, his samples were sent for genome sequencing, the results for which arrived on December 25. He was administered another test at the time, which too came out negative.
“He had multiple comorbid conditions such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypothyroidism. He suffered from cardiac and respiratory failure,” said Suman.
{{/usCountry}}“He had multiple comorbid conditions such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypothyroidism. He suffered from cardiac and respiratory failure,” said Suman.
{{/usCountry}}The state on Wednesday reported 1,883 Covid-19 cases and two deaths, taking the active cases tally to 5,016. A total of 121 cases of the Omicron variant have been reported as per genome sequencing.
Genotyping confirmed Omicron cases in the country have now risen to 2,135 but most of the close to 90,000 cases recorded in the country on Wednesday are likely to be of the new variant of concern, which spreads at an unprecedented pace.