• New Omicron variant BA.12 found in Patna, 10 times more deadly than BA.2

    Health
    New Omicron variant BA.12 found in Patna, 10 times more deadly than BA.2

    According to official reports, BA.12 is ten times more deadly than BA.2, which was detected during the country's third coronavirus outbreak.


    Digital Desk: The Bihar Health Department detected a new Omicron strain on Thursday at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS).


    According to official reports, BA.12 is ten times more deadly than BA.2, which was detected during the country's third coronavirus outbreak.


    Prof Dr Namrata Kumari, head of the IGIMS microbiology department, said,  "We began genome sequencing of samples of the Omicron variety of coronavirus in response to the increased number of Covid cases. One of the 13 samples tested positive for BA.12 strains. BA.2 strains were found in the remaining 12 samples."


    "We have sought contact tracing of all positive Omicron samples.The BA.12 variety is ten times more deadly than BA.2. However, there is no need to be concerned; precaution is all that is required here to defend against it." she added. 


    The BA.12 variation was detected for the first time in the United States. There were two to three cases detected in Delhi, and one case was already detected in Patna.




    According to the Union health ministry data, India recorded 3,303 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total number of cases to 4,30,68,799, with 16,980 active cases. After 46 days, the daily cases had surpassed the 3,000 mark. 


    The death toll from Covid-19 has risen to 5,23,693 with 39 more deaths, according to data updated at 8 am. 


    Active cases account for 0.04 per cent of the overall infections. The ministry said that the national Covid-19 recovery rate was 98.74 per cent.


    Notably, in the last 24 hours, the active Covid-19 caseload has grown by 701 cases.