Omicron Variant Has Claimed These Many Lives So Far Amid Global Covid-19 Concerns

The United Kingdom has so far reported 18 deaths related to the Omicron variant, while one each have succumbed to the viral infection in the United States and Israel.

COVID-19 Omicron variant | Representative Image: Getty

New Delhi: Even as concerns continue unabated regarding Omicron, this highly contagious Covid-19 variant has claimed around 20 lives so far after spreading rapidly across the globe.

The United Kingdom has so far reported 18 deaths related to the Omicron variant, while one each have succumbed to the viral infection in the United States and Israel.

The UK is reporting a record number of coronavirus cases, more than the country recorded during Delta wave earlier this year.

UK Junior Health Minister Gillian Keegan told Sky News earlier on Wednesday that there are currently 129 people in hospital with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, reported Reuters.

Keegan said the government would not hesitate to bring in further Covid-19 restrictions in the country if the data showed it was necessary.

Earlier on Monday, Texas in the United States reported its first death related to the Omicron variant.

County Judge Lina Hidalgo confirmed the same in a tweet and urged all to get “vaccinated and boosted”.

“Sad to report the first local fatality from the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A man in his 50’s from the eastern portion of Harris County who was not vaccinated. Please - get vaccinated and boosted,” she wrote on the micro-blogging platform.

Earlier on on Monday, a hospital in Israel confirmed the first known death in the country believed to be caused by the Omicron variant.

The man in his sixties, according to the Soroka Hospital, suffered from pre-existing health issues

The hospital, located in the southern city of Beersheba, said a man in his 60s breathed his last, two weeks after he was hospitalized, Associated Press reported.

This comes as several nations have stepped up measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 amid rising cases of the Omicron variant.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has designated Omicron as a “Variant of Concern” and called for strict curbs to check the impact of the highly transmissible virus.