Jharkhand Has ZERO Omicron Case Despite Spurt In Covid Infections — Know Why
Fifteen people in the Jharkhand chief minister's residence, including Hemant Soren's wife and his two children, have tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday.
New Delhi: While the huge spike in Omicron cases in India is making people revisit the terrifying scenes of the second wave when almost everyone lost a loved one due to the Coronavirus, it is surprising to know that Jharkhand is a state which has not registered a single case of the highly transmissible variant yet.
The latest update from the state has raised an alarm among the people as fifteen people in the Jharkhand chief minister's residence, including Hemant Soren's wife and his two children, have tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday.
Though CM Soren has imposed a night curfew it has nothing to do with Jharkhand's zero Omicron case record. In fact, Jharkhand continues to register a massive rise in daily Coronavirus cases yet remains clueless on the cause of the surge.
Then, what is the reason that the tribal state has not recorded a single Omicron case yet? Let us first take a look at the rise in Covid infections in the state for the past few days.
Jharkhand Covid Status
Jharkhand has been reporting nearly 4000 fresh Covid cases for the past three days and the state registered a massive surge of 5081 new COVID-19 cases and three fatalities on Saturday. Of the new cases, 1731 were reported from capital Ranchi and 1043 from Jamshedpur, according to the state health bulletin.
The state has been witnessing a steep rise in the Coronavirus tally with 3,825 new cases on Friday, up from 3,704 infections reported on Thursday.
While the chief Minister has been advising the people through his Twitter handle to mask up and follow all Covid guidelines, cases at his residence have brought a wave of fear and panic among the state residents.
Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta also tested Covid positive on Saturday for the second time has raised alarm among the masses.
He had contracted the disease in August 2020 after a cabinet meeting, following which the council of ministers of Chief Minister Hemant Soren went into isolation.
Why Jharkhand hasn't recorded any Omicron Cases yet?
Amid a spurt in Covid-19 cases, the reason why Jharkhand remains clueless about the Omicron variant that is in circulation is that the state does not have any genome sequencing facilities of its own and is dependent on other states.
According to an ANI report on January 2, the Jharkhand government had asked the Central government to provide a genome sequencing machine for state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Hospital over which assurance was given by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, said state health minister Banna Gupta.
The state health minister's statement came after the Union Health Minister interacted with State Health Ministers, Principal Secretaries, Additional Chief Secretaries of States/UTs on January 2 and reviewed the public health preparedness to COVID-19 and national COVID-19 vaccination.
"Banna Gupta urged the Central Government to provide a genome sequencing machine in the meeting today. He said that when RIMS has got the title of Research Center, then Genome Sequence Machine must be available here. Accepting this, the Union Health Minister has said that the machine will be made available to Jharkhand soon," an official statement from the office of Banna Gupta read.
However, the state has not yet received a single machine from the centre, even after the health ministry marked Jharkhand as an emerging hotspot for Covid infections in December 2021, according to a PTI report.
Jharkhand doctors believe the surge in Covid cases is due to Omicron
According to a report by Times of India, Dr Manoj Kumar, a senior microbiologist at RIMS, said, "On January 1, we had last sent 88 samples for genome testing to a lab in Bhubaneswar but the reports have not come. Before that, we sent about 30 samples on December 13 but those reports didn't confirm any Omicron. However, the surge in the state has only assumed pace from around Christmas. Hence, only after the clinical reports of the latest samples arrive, we can say anything with surety. But going by the current trend of the virus spread, we suspect it is Omicron."
Dr Jogesh Gambhir, head of city-based Raj Hospital, agreed. "Our clinical experience based on the symptoms of infected persons and the way the virus is spreading, suggest that the current wave is being caused by Omicron in the state." "But the government has to officially confirm," Gambhir said, quoted by TOI.
Delay in genome sequencing machine due to 'bureaucratic inertia'
While Jharkhand Health Minister clearly stated that they have requested the centre to provide genome-sequencing machines, some media reports suggest that bureaucratic apathy and policy paralysis kept delaying the purchase of a genome sequencing machine as the state government was late to place an order even after registering a sudden spike in cases in December 2021.
According to a report by Telegraph, the Jharkhand government has ordered a whole-genome sequencing machine from the US company Illumina amid a continuous surge in Covid cases.
The report quoted a source of the National Health Mission (NHM) unit of the state health department who revealed that the order was placed on Saturday and Indian representatives of the US company have assured on Monday that the installation of the Next Generation Sequencing type of whole-genome sequencing would take place within 45 days (mid-February).
Jharkhand Additional chief secretary (health) Arun Kumar Singh also gave a confirmation to the Telegraph that the state has placed the order of the machine which costs in excess of Rs 6 crore and received assurance of installation within 45 days.
The senior bureaucrat admitted to the delay which has led to the state sending all its Covid positive samples to Bhubaneswar for genome sequencing. “There were procedural delays and bureaucratic inertia which resulted in the delay. We cannot hold hands and ask the official to do work all the time,” claimed Singh.
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