SHILLONG, Jan 15: Meghalaya is recording an increasing number of cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
“Three groups of samples have been tested for genome sequencing so far. On January 3, we tested 70 or so and five were found to be of the Omicron variant. On January 7, we tested about 45 samples and 27 were found to be of the Omicron variant. Of the 47 samples tested yesterday (January 14), 45 were found to be of the Omicron and two of the Delta variants,” a health official said.
He said sample testing is representative as everyone’s sample cannot be tested given that genome sequencing is a costly and time-consuming process. He, however, said an effort is made to cover different areas of the state while samples are sent for genome sequencing.
“It is not the numbers that have been declared Omicron but the trend. The trend is actually Omicron or else why would there be an increase in the cases? Most of the cases are also mild and it shows it is Omicron,” the official added.
Pointing out that this variant is highly transmissible, he insisted that people get vaccinated and those eligible for the booster dose avail it immediately.
Principal Secretary, Health, P Sampath Kumar, had earlier stated the state still has a large number of unvaccinated people and the focus is on vaccination, especially of the elderly people with co-morbidities.
Stating that the government is also focussing on testing, he urged people with the symptoms to come forward and get tested.
“There should be more responsive testing because we are going into a stage where you know the communities have to deal with this virus like any other disease in the sense that if one gets common cold, how one would actually take the measures. Similar kind of capacity has to be built across communities,” Kumar said.
He said there is not much vaccine hesitancy in the age group of 15-18 years. He hoped the vaccination of this category of children could be completed in the next two to three weeks.
Stating that the state medical expert committee, state taskforce and state response team are meeting regularly, Kumar said, “We have discussed what Omicron does differently than the Delta variant and what measures we should take. Omicron is highly infectious.”
The Health Secretary stressed that slowing down the transmission rate is very important and appealed to people to adhere to the protocols.