COVID Surge in India: First Death from New Variant Reported in Delhi

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): COVID-19 cases are once again rising rapidly across India. Over 2,000 new active cases have been reported nationwide in the past week alone. Meanwhile, Delhi has reported its first death due to a new variant of coronavirus, where a 60-year-old woman succumbed to the infection. The virus is also spreading quickly in Noida and Ghaziabad. In the last 24 hours, Delhi recorded 56 new cases, pushing the active case count beyond 200.

Across the country, the total number of COVID-19 deaths has reached 15, with Maharashtra accounting for the highest toll at 6 deaths.

The woman who died in Delhi was initially admitted to a hospital with severe abdominal pain and vomiting. She was diagnosed with acute intestinal obstruction and underwent emergency laparotomy (abdominal surgery). A routine post-surgery test revealed she was COVID-19 positive, although she had shown no prior symptoms of the virus.

Kerala is also witnessing a sharp rise in active cases, now at 1,147, with a significant increase reported in the past week. The Omicron JN variant LF7 is said to be behind many of these cases. Amid the rising cases across several states, four new COVID-19 variants have been identified in India. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has not classified them as concerning yet, placing them under the “variants under monitoring” category.