44 persons have succumbed since the beginning of the 3rd wave
Manipur reports 85 new Omicron cases, tally reaches 127
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, February 01 2022: With as many as 85 new cases detected late last night, the total number of Omicron cases in the State has spiked to 127 .

Speaking to media persons at the Health Directorate, Lamphelpat today, Health Services Director Dr K Rajo said that 3446 samples have been sent for whole genome sequencing till date and results of 3031 have been received.

Out of them 127 have been confirmed Omicron positive.

It includes 85 cases detected yesterday and 42 others confirmed earlier.

The distribution of Omicron cases is Bishnupur-1, Chandel-8, Churachandpur-1, Imphal East-37, Imphal West-60, Kakching-2, Noney-1, Senapati-6, Thoubal-8 and Ukhrul-3 .

Noting that the Omicron variant has been detected in most of the districts, Dr Rajo said that there may be many more unreported cases of Omicron.

The State is currently battling the third wave of Covid pandemic which started in mid-January.

In the initial days, the positivity rate was 0.05 per cent but it has risen to 17 per cent these days.

The rate of fatality has also been rising, the Health Director said.

Manipur reports 85 new Omicron cases, tally reaches 127

He said that 44 persons have succumbed to the Covid pandemic since the beginning of the third wave.

Out of 187 international passengers who are currently under surveillance, nine have been already confirmed as Covid positive.

Most of the new Covid positive cases are likely to be Omicron and this variant has been mutating in the forms of BA1, BA2 and BA3 .

So far, eight BA1 cases have been detected in the State and BA1 is the most common variant in the world, Dr Rajo said.

Although BA2 is restricted to only some countries so far, 115 cases of the same variant have been detected in the State.

Till date, BA2 variant has been detected in 42 countries, he said.

However, people need not panic.

All the 127 people who were infected with Omicron have recovered and have been discharged, informed the Health Director.

Of the 44 people who succumbed to Covid during the third wave, eight (18.9 per cent of the total deaths) were vaccinated with first dose of Covid vaccine, 17 (38.63 per cent) were vaccinated with both the first and second doses while the remaining 19 were not vaccinated.

Out of them, 41 had co-morbidities, he said.

Even though Covid positivity rate has been declining at the National level, it is rising in the North East region including Manipur but there is nothing to be afraid of.

The third wave would subside by the end of February, Dr Rajo said.

Even though the Government has taken up a number of protective measures and a large number of ICU beds are lying vacant, people need to take all possible precautions, the Health Director said.

He then appealed to all the people to strictly follow Covid appropriate behaviour like wearing mask properly, maintaining physical distance of at least six feet, frequent washing of hands using soap etc.

He further appealed to all those who have taken the second dose of Covid vaccine six months back or earlier particularly who have been assigned election duty, have co-morbidity and aged 60 years and above to get themselves vaccinated with precautionary dose.

As the virus has been mutating continuously, there is no medicine for treatment of Covid and it is unlikely for any pharmaceutical company to manufacture Covid vaccine anytime soon.

As such, the best way to protect oneself from Covid is taking up all protective and precautionary measures, Dr Rajo asserted.

If anyone is feeling unwell, they should promptly get tested for Covid-19 without wasting time, he said.

Many Covid Care Centres of Imphal are still active.

There are 214 beds in Bal Bhavan, Khuman Lampak, 64 in RD Wing and 600 in Lamboi Khongnangkhong.

He then advised all the people not to go outside the State if there is no compelling reason.

Dr Rajo further appealed to all parents not to take out children unnecessarily.