KATHMANDU– The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is now driving daily cases to surge in Nepal, accounting for 88 percent of the samples tested recently, the country’s Ministry of Health and Population said yesterday.

“During the latest gene sequencing of 32 samples of COVID-19 patients, the Omicron variant was present in 28 samples, while Delta was found in four samples,” Sameer Kumar Adhikari, a ministry spokesman, said, at a press briefing.

“It means, the presence of Omicron has been found in 88 percent of samples, suggesting that, it is now the driving force behind recent surge in coronavirus cases, like in many other countries in the world,” he added.

Nepal has been witnessing another wave of infections since the start of the new year.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK