Seven-year-old Boy Infected, First Case Of Omicron In West Bengal

First Case Of Omicron In West Bengal: The state of West Bengal reported its first case of the new coronavirus strain, Omicron. On December 15, a seven-year-old boy with an international travel history tested positive for the new variant, as stated by the Health Department of West Bengal.

The officials of the health department stated that the boy had travelled back to West Bengal from Abu Dhabi via Hyderabad. Both the parents and the child were tested for the new variant of the coronavirus as per the guidelines by the Ministry of Health to the states and union territories on November 26.

The parents tested negative, while the child tested positive for the virus. He is currently undergoing treatment at a local hospital in the Murshidabad district of West Bengal.

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On Monday, the state reported 418 new COVID-19 cases which were 165 cases less than the ones reported on Sunday. It contributed to the rising tally of 16,23,609 cases as per the health department bulletin.

It also stated that the death toll has risen to 19,610 as 10 more people died due to the COVID-19 disease in the 24 hours window between Sunday and Monday this week.

The North 24 Parganas, a district in West Bengal, reported three new deaths, two each from Kolkata and Nadia and one from Hoogly, South 24 Parganas and Paschim Bardhaman. The discharge rate according to the department is 98.33 percent and West Bengal currently has 7,517 active COVID-19 cases.

Earlier today, Hyderabad reported two new COVID-19 cases of the new variant. It was of a 24-year-old Kenyan woman and a 23-year-old Somalian man who arrived in the city on December 12.

Suggested Reading: Omicron Variant Spreading at an Unprecedented Rate Says WHO

The World Health Organisation has said that the new variant is spreading at an "unprecedented rate" and is "probably in most countries." The director of WHO Tedros Adhanom said that the "evolving" evidence shows a small decline in COVID-19 vaccine efficiency and booster dose might play an important role in the coming days.

Although the Subject Expert Committee, which works under the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation said that it will not recommend the Serum Institute of India's booster dose without a clinical trial. The SII had submitted an application seeking approval as the world's demand for booster doses increases. It has already been approved by the medicines and the Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom. Read more here.