Omicron found in 94% of positive samples in Kerala: State health minister

Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Thursday said that most of the positive COVID-19 samples, sent for the genome sequencing, are being tested positive for the Omicron variant of the virus while there are fewer Delta variant samples.

Speaking to the reporters here, George said, "Continuous sequencing of Covid positive samples is being done. Almost 94 per cent of samples test positive for Omicron and 6 per cent for delta."

George said: "It is now clear that the third wave in Kerala is the Omicron wave."

The Health Minister further informed that less than 4 per cent of the patients of COVID-19 in the state have needed hospitalisation out of which less than 1 per cent of them needed oxygen beds.

"Out of total positive cases in Kerala, only 3.6 per cent is hospitalised, out of which 0.7 per cent require oxygen beds and 0.6 per cent require ICU," she said.

As on 27th Jan, there are 22,02,472 active cases in India. The case positivity rate is at 17.75 per cent(in last one week). 11 States have more than 50,000 active cases. Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala have more than 3 lakh active cases," said the Union Ministry of Health.

"Overall case positivity rate across the country was nearly 17.75 per cent during the last week. There are over 50,000 COVID active cases in 11 states, 10,000-50,000 active cases in 14 states & less than 10,000 active cases in 11 states," Luv Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry said.