Omicron spread: Covid-19 cases skyrocket but fewer deaths this time round

While Omicron is spreading like wildfire across the world, and India is no exception, the wave it has triggered here so far appears milder in terms of fatality. While death-related data comes with a lag, a comparison with the previous waves shows that while cases have increased in almost a perpendicular graph, the number of deaths has not risen as drastically.

The fatality rate in Covid patients in India is currently around 1.3 per cent. Between December 30, 2021 and January 16, 2022, the total number of cases in India has grown by almost 7 per cent, while deaths have increased by about 0.5 per cent.

More than 486,000 people have died of Covid since the start of the pandemic in India.

Experts say the lower incidence of death and hospitalisation in the current wave is not to be attributed to the nature of Omicron alone but also to the high number of vaccinations and natural infection immunity that has been achieved. In the one year since it started the vaccination drive on January 16, India has covered 92 per cent of its population with one dose of the vaccine

and almost 70 per cent with two doses.

A Delhi government analysis shows that most of those who succumbed to the virus were those who were either not fully vaccinated or had comorbidities. Another analysis, by the Mumbai municipal corporation, found that 96 per cent of those in need of oxygen support in the current wave were unvaccinated.

States reporting the highest number of deaths in the ongoing wave include Delhi and West Bengal. Kolkata has been reporting a positivity rate of over 60 per cent this time round. While Maharashtra accounted for 40 per cent of the total deaths in the first wave and 29 per cent in the second, this time the figure stands at 10.2 per cent.

Kerala, which continued to face the Delta wave till much after most states had crossed the second wave peak, has seen a higher number of cases and deaths in the past few months, accounting for 7.6 per cent of all fatalities in the third wave.