99.5% samples found infected with Omicron sub-variants in Mumbai: BMC

Out of 279 swab samples tested during the 12th genome sequencing series in the metropolis, 278 were found infected with Omicron variant of coronavirus as well as Delta strain, BMC said on Monday.

Out of 279 swab samples tested during the 12th genome sequencing series in the metropolis, 278 were found infected with Omicron sub-variants of coronavirus and one with the Delta strain, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Monday. The civic body said 279 COVID-19 samples were examined in the 12th series batch at the Genome Sequencing Lab in BMC-run Kasturba Hospital. Out of the total, 202 samples were collected from Mumbai, while the remaining were from outside the city. It said among the 202 samples in Mumbai, 201 (99.5 per cent) were infected with Omicron sub-variants of coronavirus, while one was detected with the Delta strain. According to the BMC, of the 202 patients, 24 (12 per cent) were in the age group of 0 to 20 years, 88 (44 per cent) in the age group of 21 to 40 years, 52 patients (26 per cent) in the age group 41 to 60 years, 32 (13 per cent) in the age group 61 to 80 years, and only five patients (2 per cent) were above 80. It pointed out that all the 24 samples of patients in the age group 0 to 20 years were infected with Omicron sub-variants of coronavirus, but none of them had any severe symptoms. Of the 202 patients, two had taken only the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, whereas of the 129 patients who had taken both doses, nine were hospitalized and only one of them was admitted in the ICU, the civic body said. The BMC said 71 of the 202 patients had not taken COVID-19 vaccine and nine of them were hospitalized, but only two of them were admitted in the ICU and one of them died,

Of the 201 patients infected with Omicron sub-variants, three were detected with BA.4 and one with BA.5 sub-lineages between May 14 and May 24, it said. None of these four patients had travelled outside India or Maharashtra 15 days prior to the infection and all of them recovered during home isolation, the civic body said.