The death of an Omicron-infected man in Maharashtra could be India’s first death linked to the new variant of COVID-19, but the state’s health authorities have not labelled it as an ‘Omicron death’.
The 52-year-old man died of a heart attack on Tuesday at a Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation hospital, according to the public health department, which added that the patient had recently travelled to Nigeria and was a diabetic.
“The death of this patient is due to non-Covid reasons. Coincidently, the National Institute of Virology report revealed that he was infected with the Omicron variant,” the department said in a statement.
Maharashtra reported 198 new cases of Omicron on Thursday, the highest in the country.
Studies are showing that the variant, though highly infectious, could be milder than the previous Delta variant, resulting in fewer cases of hospitalisation and deaths.
India has reported 1,270 Omicron cases as of Friday morning but there were no deaths among them until this one was reported by Maharashtra.
Kerala, Gujarat, Delhi and Maharashtra have reported the most cases so far as several state governments have banned New Year’s Eve gatherings.
The variant has now spread to Punjab and Bihar, with both states reporting one case each.
