Chandigarh [India], May 28 (ANI): A 40-year-old patient on Wednesday succumbed to COVID-19 virus at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, said an official.

Speaking to ANI, GMCH Medical Superintendent GP Thami confirmed the patient's death, stating that the patient was referred from Ludhiana and was hospitalised two days ago with severe respiratory issues. The patient tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday and succumbed to the illness in the early hours of Wednesday.

When asked about the hospital's preparedness, the official stated that they have made an isolation ward.

'Yesterday, a patient came. He was diagnosed with COVID. Today, he died at around 4 in the morning...He was 40 years old and belonged to Firozabad, UP. He was suffering from some respiratory problem and fever, then he was referred here from Ludhiana... We have made an isolation ward. We suspect more people to come here suffering from COVID...The variant has not been identified yet...Right now, it is preliminary,' Thami said.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has confirmed that while COVID-19 cases were reported again in parts of the country, current variants in circulation were showing mild symptoms similar to the Omicron strain.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Dr Dangs Lab, Arjun Dang, the rising cases of Covid-19 belonged to the sub-lineage of the Omicron virus.

Dang further stated that in states like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, the variants that were named as 'Variants under Monitoring' were of types LF7 and NV181 and were more transmissible.

'We must understand that the current spreading variants are again a sublineage of the Omicron virus. Additionally, in states like Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, we have certain other sub-variants that have been named Variants Under Monitoring, and these are basically of two types, LF7 and NV181. Currently, the cases that we are seeing are more transmissible. They can infect people easily, but again, from the severity perspective, till now, we have not seen any severe cases,' Dang told ANI.

On Monday, India reported 1,009 active COVID-19 cases in the country on Monday, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. As per the Health Ministry, India's COVID-19 update showed a total of 1009 active cases, with 752 new cases recently confirmed.

According to the government data, Kerala currently tops the chart with the highest number of active cases at 430. Other states with notable case counts include Maharashtra (209), Delhi (104), Gujarat (83), and Karnataka (47). (ANI)