Omicron Variant of Corona:  The emergence of the Omicron, a new variant of Covid has become a new reason for worry worldwide. Concern”. The variant, believed to be more infectious than all previous strains, was first detected in South Africa and flagged as a “variant of concern” by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Besides South Africa, several other countries like Germany, Israel, Australia, and others have detected cases of the Omicron variant. The pace at which it is spreading has left the scientific community worried, as they fear that this new strain could fuel outbreaks in other nations and cripple health systems once again.Also Read - Amid Rising Omicron Cases, Fresh Restrictions Imposed in Maharashtra Till Dec 31 | Full List of Curbs Here

Will Omicron Trigger Third Wave of Corona? 

Indian health experts mentioned that it is premature to say if we are about to face the third wave. However, the kind of carelessness that India has seen in the last few months, if the omicron enters the country, it may have a detrimental effect. Also Read - Travellers Visiting Germany Can Rejoice as Country to Ease Testing For Those With Covid Booster

“Do not lower our guards and restart taking full precautions as before including social distancing. People need to understand that Covid appropriate behaviour and vaccination are the only ways to stay safe from this variant,” said Animesh Arya, Senior Consultant in Respiratory Medicine, Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute, New Delhi. Also Read - Delhi Reports 4 More Omicron Cases, Total Tally Rises to 10

Echoing similar remarks, Gyaneshwar Chaubey, a professor of genetics at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) asserted it will take 10-15 days to understand the true mortality of a variant.  “So far, there is not enough data on this variant to know its immune evading or severity property. However, looking at the data from South Africa, its infectivity is very high. The R0 (rate of infection) of this variant is calculated to be 2 which is higher than the delta variant (1.64),” Outlook quoted Choubey as saying.

The South African health officials said the new variant has many more mutations than scientists expected, especially after a severe wave, which was driven by the Delta variant. Many of the mutations are of concern for immune evasion and transmissibility. It carries a high number of mutations in its spike protein, which plays a key role in the virus’ entry into cells in the human body.

Vaccination Best Available Option

Ravi Shekhar Jha, Additional Director Pulmonology, Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad asserted that so far, it appears that those who are not vaccinated are at very high risk of getting affected by the severe disease.

“Therefore, vaccination is the best available option at present which can be a game-changer,” Jha added.

The experts cautioned people against being complacent and said that we need to understand that the pandemic is not yet over and therefore we should not lower our guards and restart taking full precautions as before including social distancing.