Arushi Bidhuri
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Written By: Arushi Bidhuri | Updated : January 20, 2022 9:27 PM IST
As the latest wave of COVID-19 cases hit India, there is increased speculation regarding the new Omicron variant. It has yet again led to a major shift in people's lives. India did see an exponential rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. This increase is due to more individuals being forced indoors by winter weather, the quick expansion of the more infectious Omicron strain, decreased protective behaviour and holiday gatherings, and, most crucially, many people's continued absence of vaccines.
Omicron is slowly becoming the cause of definite panic that mixed information is being circulated around the world about the variant. Clearing the air today is Dr Roderico H. Ofrin, WHO Country Representative to India who will help you understand more about the new dominant variant.
Omicron has a significant growth advantage over the Delta variant, meaning that it is spreading faster. It's infecting people who are vaccinated, and those who have had prior infection. There is increasing evidence that this variant is able to evade immunity.
As a result, it's emerging as the dominant variant around the world. The current global epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 is characterised by the emergence of the Omicron variant, the declining prevalence of the Delta variant, and very low circulation of the Alpha, Beta and Gamma variants.
Letting the virus act as a vaccine, so to speak, is not an option. The more we allow the virus to spread, the more opportunities the virus will have to mutate and reinfect, and the longer the pandemic will last.
We must also not forget that an increase in cases will lead to more hospitalisations, which may overwhelm the health care system and lead to a higher number of deaths, particularly in vulnerable populations.
Vaccines remain highly effective at protecting against serious illness, hospitalisation and death. So, we must continue to accelerate and expand the vaccination coverage, as India has been doing systematically over the past year.
That apart, each one of us must observe COVID-appropriate behaviour to protect ourselves and others around us by following the 3 Ws (Wear a mask properly, Wash your hands, Watch your distance) and 2 Vs (Vaccination, Ventilation of indoor spaces).
The most common symptoms of Omicron are cough, runny/stuffy nose, sore throat, fatigue, headache and body ache. The more uncommon and severe symptoms include fever, difficulty in breathing indicating lung involvement (pneumonia), and the loss of smell.
The pandemic is not over, the virus is still evolving and finding ways to spread. The more it spreads, the higher are the chances for it to mutate and cause more surges of cases. So, it is difficult to predict when or where the next variant will emerge, what it will be like, or when the virus will become endemic.
Omicron is the dominant variant currently circulating in India, as indicated in the available genome surveillance (whole genome sequencing) data. Whether it is the Delta or Omicron variants, the virus spreads the same way. This means the pandemic response remains the same and we can stop transmission with the existing tools.
All the priority public health and social measures (PHSM) in responding to SARS-CoV-2 apply to Omicron and future variants:
The virus is continuing to evolve. As such, it does not have the seasonal predictability associated with influenza, so we cannot treat it like seasonal flu. It appears to be headed towards being endemic, but we are not out of the woods yet.
Every country has to prioritise services and actions to protect the most vulnerable. The recent Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) advisory was introduced as a "purposive testing strategy" in view of the exponential surge of COVID-19 cases and their possible contacts. The advisory says that asymptomatic individuals in community settings need not be tested.
The WHO recommends that if resources are constrained and it is not possible to test all individuals meeting the case definition, people at risk of severe disease, health care and frontline workers, hospitalised patients etc, should be prioritised.
Since it is very resource-intensive to test all asymptomatic people, it is better for asymptomatic close contacts to strictly quarantine themselves for the duration advised by the Government of India to protect others from getting infected.
Omicron is not the first variant and will not be the last. As I have said earlier, if we don't stop transmission, the virus is likely to mutate, as it has done earlier. Nothing is certain about the virus, so it's better to interrupt transmission and not allow any opportunities for mutation.
