A STAGGERING 100,000 people in Bahrain were infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus last month, the Health Ministry revealed last night.
Of these, 14 cases resulted in fatalities, which is 0.01 per cent of the total infections.
This compares with 112,572 people infected with the Delta variant last year, which resulted in 787 deaths, constituting 0.74pc of the total cases.
This means Delta accounted for the highest number of Covid-19 deaths in the country.
The Alpha variant had contributed to 78,331cases with 264 deaths (0.34pc) while the first strain of Covid-19 accounted for 87,137 cases and 341 deaths (0.39pc).
Fewer fatalities from Omicron last month reflects the success of the vaccination campaign, said National Taskforce to Combat Covid-19 monitoring committee head Lieutenant Colonel Dr Manaf Al Qahtani.
“Vaccines have proven effective in reducing complications among the existing cases,” said Dr Al Qahtani, a BDF Hospital microbiologist.
“It has also helped in bringing down death rates, and admission rates in hospitals and intensive care units (ICU).
“Bahrain continues its efforts to deal with the virus and its mutants through a sustained vaccination drive and our aim is to preserve the health and safety of all citizens and residents.”
The country has been witnessing a massive spike in Covid-19 infections since December.
The GDN reported last week that January witnessed the highest monthly total ever, a phenomenal rise from 4,372 cases in December (2021).
The first two weeks of January saw 20,810 infections, while the fortnight following witnessed a nearly 180 per cent increase – 59,150 cases.
From January 1 to 14, the daily average of 1,486 cases increased to 4,200 from January 15 to 29.
“According to local statistics, 100,687 cases of the mutated Omicron variant have been recorded since January this year, while 14 deaths were registered,” said Dr Al Qahtani.
“However, we saw 787 fatalities with the emergence of the mutated Delta variant of the virus last year, out of a total of 112,572 cases.
“This confirms the role of vaccination in raising the immune response of all age groups, who have taken two doses of a vaccine and a booster shot.”
Bahrain launched its vaccination campaign on December 17, 2020. The country offers a free choice of four anti-coronavirus vaccines - Sinopharm, Pfizer-BioNTech, Covishield and Russian Sputnik to citizens and residents aged above three years. It also offers booster doses to all, while a second optional booster dose was announced last night to the elderly and frontline health workers.
“In the current stage, it is important to focus on dealing with existing cases which require treatment in hospital or admission to intensive care, which fortunately are fewer in number,” pointed out Dr Al Qahtani.
“Despite the rapid spread of the Omicron variant globally, its complications are less compared with the previous mutants, especially among those who received the booster dose.
“We call upon all citizens and residents to continue adhering to precautionary measures, in addition to taking vaccinations and booster jabs according to schedule, to safeguard the health of the community.”
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