Experts lay emphasis on being watchful against Omicron amid surge in cases

By Joymala Bagchi
New Delhi [India], December 15 : Amid Omicron cases tally in the country rising to 49, the experts, though terming the variations in RNA viruses as common, lay emphasis on being watchful against the variant.
Though the infection caused by the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has mild symptoms, the health experts reiterated on maintaining COVID appropriate behaviour along with being watchful.
Speaking to ANI, Director of Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry Dr Rakesh Aggarwal said, "For RNA viruses like SARS-COV-2 virus, the variations are common and new variants arise. The variants are of concern only in one of the three situations. First, if they multiply faster, which the current new Omicron variant is doing. Second, if they cause a disease that is more severe. However, till now Omicron does not appear to be causing a very serious illness. Third, if it is not protected by the vaccine for previous infections."
Evidence till date have shown that the latest variant multiplies at a faster rate causing infection to spread faster but the cases reported in India showed mild symptoms.
"Even though people already infected with COVID or vaccinated against the virus have caught the infection, it is not a matter of concern as those patients have only exhibited mild symptoms. We should be watchful against severe cases or fatalities due to this new variant, not the milder cases," observed Dr Aggarwal.
However, the expert emphasized on keeping one's guard up against the infection. "We need to be watchful. We need to keep an eye and make sure that we take precautions to prevent the spread of this infection. We need to use the masks regularly. We also need to avoid crowding and vaccination," he said.
Speaking on the requirement of booster doses to check the spread of Omicron, the health expert asked people not to panic as no relation between a booster dose and immunity against Omicron has been ascertained yet.
"There is no need to panic as with the data available as of today, I don't think everybody needs a booster dose or that there is really a very close relation between booster dose and Omicron. The experts are keeping an eye on whether there is a need for a booster dose. They have discussed and then taken a decision. As of now, it appears that there is not much role of a booster dose in the country considering a large proportion of our population is already vaccinated or have had exposure to the virus," said Dr Aggarwal.
Detected in South Africa, Omicron, the latest COVID variant which is also "highly transmissible" has now been reported in six states in the country.
Several studies are going on at present to understand the contagiousness of the virus and the effectiveness of existing vaccines against it.
Amid a surge in cases of Omicron variant in the country, the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Tuesday issued new guidelines for international travellers from 'at-risk' countries arriving at six major airports to mandatorily prebook an RT-PCR test starting December 20.