Omicron gradually spreading in community: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain

Omicron community transmission: Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain informed on December 30, 2021 that people with no travel history have been found to be infected with Omicron, which means that it is gradually spreading in the community.

Satyendar Jain also said that the new COVID variant Omicron was found in 46 per cent of 115 samples sequenced in Delhi so far. He further confirmed that there are a total of 200 Covid cases in Delhi hospitals currently, out of which 102 belongs to the city, while 98 are from outside.

People with no travel history found infected with Omicron, it means it's gradually spreading in community: Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 30, 2021

He further said that of the 200 Covid cases in Delhi hospitals, which include international passengers. 115 are asymptomatic and have been kept in hospitals as a precautionary step.

Read more: Check Full List of States that have reported Omicron Variant

"A total of 70 #Omicron patients have been admitted to LNJP till Dec 30, out of which 50 patients have been discharged. Most of the patients are asymptomatic; only 4 out of the 70 patients had a mild fever, throat infection, weakness, loose motion, " said Dr Suresh Kumar, LNJP-MD, Delhi.

A total of 70 #Omicron patients have been admitted to LNJP till Dec 30, out of which 50 patients have been discharged. Most of the patients are asymptomatic; only 4 out of the 70 patients had a mild fever, throat infection, weakness, loose motion: Dr Suresh Kumar, LNJP-MD, Delhi pic.twitter.com/BqJNZRRli1

— ANI (@ANI) December 30, 2021

WHO warns of Covid 'tsunami' 

The World Health Organization warned of a possible Covid tsunami on December 30, 2021. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed high concern over highly transmissible Omicron spreading at the same time as Delta, saying that it is leading to a tsunami of cases. He said that Delta and Omicron are twin threats that are driving up cases to record numbers right now, which is again spiking hospitalisations and deaths. 

The WHO Chief said that this is and will continue to put immense pressure on exhausted Health workers and health systems on the brink of collapse and again disrupting lives and livelihoods. He stated that the pressure on health systems is not only because of new COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalisation but also a large number of health workers are getting sick themselves.

The WHO Chief warned that the unvaccinated are many times more at risk of dying from either variant. He further warned that Omicron is moving so quickly, in addition to vaccination, public health social measures are also needed to curb the infection to protect health workers and systems and open up societies and keep children in school.

The WHO Chief reiterated that this is the moment for leaders to banish the politics of populism & self-interest, which are derailing the COVID-19 response & threaten to undermine the response to the inevitable next disease X. He stated that the virus will continue to evolve and threaten our health systems if we don’t improve the collective response. 

This comes as Omicron has already started to exhaust hospitals in the United States, which is the hardest-hit nation currently.

Background

Omicron is spreading very quickly across the world, becoming the dominant global variant in several countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and Russia. Omicron is likely to replace Delta as the dominant global variant in the coming weeks. Delta is still the most common variant in all continents.