Covid-19: India Records First Omicron Death In Rajasthan’s Udaipur

The man, who had symptoms like fever, cough and rhinitis, was found Covid-19 positive earlier on December 15 last year.

Representational Image. (File Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: India on Wednesday recorded the first death linked to Covid-19 Omicron after the samples of a man, who breathed his last in Rajasthan’s Udaipur city last week, showed the variant’s presence, sources said.

Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said at a press conference on Wednesday that the death reported from Udaipur was "technically" related to Omicron.

Sources in the Union Health Ministry added that the 73-year-old man, who was found infected with Omicron in genome sequencing and who had tested negative for the infection twice, died in a hospital in Udaipur on December 31, PTI reported.

The man, who had symptoms like fever, cough and rhinitis, was found Covid-19 positive earlier on December 15 last year.

The man, who had twice tested negative for Covid-19 twice on December 21 and 25 last year, was admitted to the hospital earlier on December 15, 2021.

The elderly was found infected with the Omicron variant of the virus after the results of the sample sent for genome sequencing were received on December 25, 2021.

Udaipur Chief Medical Health Officer (CMHO) Dr Dinesh Kharadi had earlier said that the man died due to post-Covid pneumonia coupled with comorbidities -- diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hypothyroidism.

“A 73-year-old man, who was tested positive for Covid’s Omicron strain on December 15, died today. Later, he tested negative two times. So, this will not be called a Covid death but a post-Covid death,” he told ANI on December 31 last year.

Udaipur’s Maharana Bhupal Government Hospital (MBGH) Superintendent Dr R.L. Suman had earlier said the man was fully vaccinated and had respiratory problems and pneumonia-like symptoms when he was admitted.

“The person had received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Prima facie it appears that this was the first time he had Covid-19. After he tested negative twice, we shifted him to the general ward where he was given a Bipap mask, which is a non-invasive form of ventilator because of his respiratory problems,” The Indian Express quoted Dr Suman as saying.