Odisha reports 1st Omicron death, toll in India rises to 2

Odisha Thursday reported for the first time death of a person infected by Omicron, however, authorities have said that it is yet to be ascertained whether she died due to the coronavirus variant. The 45-year-old woman, a resident of Agalpur in Bolangir district who had tested positive for coronavirus, had died on December 27 last year in a Sambalpur hospital and her genome sequencing report was made available on Wednesday, Bolangir chief district medical officer (CDMO) Snehalata Sahoo said. She had no travel history to any country.

She was admitted to Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital in Bolangir after a heart attack but was later shifted to VIMSAR at Burla in Sambalpur where she tested positive for coronavirus on December 23 and her swab sample was sent for genome sequencing. She died on December 27 before the report came.

“The woman tested positive for the Omicron strain on January 5, 2022 following genome sequencing of her swab sample. Persons who had come in contact with her have undergone the RT-PCR test”, Sahoo said.

Asked about the cause of her death, the CDMO said ''It is yet to be ascertained whether she died due to heart attack or Omicron infection”.

The body of the woman was allegedly handed over to her family for cremation instead of conducting her last rites as per the COVID-19 protocol and many of her relatives and villagers had attended the last rites.

Odisha’s Omicron case tally has increased to 61 on after 24 more cases were detected on Wednesday. The variant has been found in almost all the 30 districts of the state, said Bijay Mojapatra, the director health services.