COVID-19: 10 Times More Dangerous New Omicron Variant Detected in Bihar

The detection of a new Omicron variant in Bihar has sent shockwaves among the people of the state as this variant is said to be 10 times more dangerous than the BA.2 variant which was detected during the third wave of Covid-19 in the country. The State Health Department on Thursday confirmed the detection of a new variant labelled as BA.12 at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS).

Prof Dr Namrata Kumari, the HOD of the microbiology department of IGIMS said that in view of the rising Covid cases, the department started genome sequencing of samples of the variant. "There were 13 samples tested and one of them had BA.12 strains. The remaining 12 samples have BA.2 strains," she told IANS

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It may be noted here the BA.12 variant was first reported in the U.S. Earlier, two to three such cases were reported in Delhi. Now, this dangerous variant has been reported in Patna. 

Meanwhile, India on Thursday reported 3,303 fresh Covid-19 cases taking the tally to 4,30,68, 799. The active caseload has increased to 16,980, according to Union Health Ministry data. The daily infections have climbed to 3,000 mark after 46 days. With 34 more fatalities reported during the last 24 hours, the death toll rose to 5,23,693.