oppn parties India Must Take Guard Against Omicron, Seriously And Immediately

News Snippets

  • Union health ministry has asked for warning boards to be put up at central institutions for samosas, jalebis and other fried snack to inform the hiden fat and sugar content in such snacks
  • J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, his cabinet colleagues and mosr prominent opposition leaders were detained at their homes and not allowed to visit the graveyard of 1931 martyrs
  • Indian Army denied allegations of drone attack on Ulfa-I camps in Mynamar
  • Shiv Sena (UBT) workers traced and assaulted the auto driver who had posted a video saying he will speak only in Bhojpuri and Hindi, and not in Marathi
  • $125K penalty for Infosys unit in the uS in cybersecurity probe
  • Fico identifies 300 items for export to the US, flags products where government may want to push for tariff cuts
  • TCS chief K Krithivasan says spending in the IT sector will pick up only after clarity in trade talks with the US
  • RBI has allowed pledging of gold against loans in the agriculture sector. This is likely to boost the rural economy
  • Chess World Cup: Divya Deshmukh and Koneru Humpy reach the last 16
  • Women's T20 series against England: India lose last match by 5 wickets but win the series 3-2. Coach Amol Muzumdar says bowling was the key takeaway
  • Third Test: A lot depends on K L Rahul (33 not out) and Rishabh Pant if India is to go 2-1 up in the series
  • Third Test: England dismissed for 192 with Joe Root scoring 40. Washington Sundar takes 4 wickets
  • Third Test: Exciting days play on the cards as India lose 4 wickets in chasing 193
  • Congress' woes in Karnataka do not seem to be over as DKS meets Priyanaka Vadra, raising speculation about change in chief minister in the state
  • Delhi HC refused to entrtain an urgent petition to stop the screening of the movie 'Udaipur Files', said the film should be screened for those who are opposing it
Air India CEO says there were no mechanical issues, reacts to probe report of Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad /////// AI pilots' association lashes out at 'insunuation of suicide'
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India Must Take Guard Against Omicron, Seriously And Immediately

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2021-12-22 03:39:09

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a timely warning that the Omicron variant of Covid, with its many mutations, is spreading at a furious rate (with fresh infections doubling in 1.5 to 3 days) and that nations should take all precautions to stop the spread. Shashank Joshi, a member of the Maharashtra Covid task force, has suggested that a combination of the earlier Delta variant and the Omicron variant (termed Delmicron) is behind the huge spike in fresh Covid cases in Europe and the US. This has huge implication for India as the country still grapples with Delta infections even as Omicron is being detected all over the country.

In view of this, the Centre on Tuesday issued an advisory to the states to activate war rooms, draw up action plans and reintroduce Covid curbs as per local needs. It suggested that testing should be ramped up and contact tracing must be done diligently in suspect cases. It also suggested that night curfew should be brought back and large congregations must be banned. The Centre has asked district administrations to keep a close watch on numbers and proactively analyze data and to anticipate trends and surges to take corrective action as per need.

But the way people are behaving, it is extremely scary. Mask usage has almost vanished with a miniscule percentage of people still following it. Over-crowding and large congregations are being witnessed in all towns and cities, especially in tourist places. People have decided that Covid has vanished and they have thrown all caution to the winds. Administrations have also become lax and there are no checks whether Covid norms are being followed. This is going to cost the country dear if Omicron or a combination of Delta and Omicron starts spreading at a fast rate. The most dangerous thing about Omicron infections are that nearly 80% of them are asymptomatic and hence likely to spread at a fast rate since the infected person will not get tested until it is too late.

Although most reports suggest that Omicron infection is not life-threatening with mild cases that often do not need hospitalization or oxygen support, but if too many people start getting infected, the load on the health infrastructure of the country will become unmanageable, like in the second wave, more so as Omicron is likely to spread 3 to 5 times more and faster. The Lancet study that says that the effect of Covishield starts waning 3 months after the second dose complicates matters further. As it is, Omicron is known to penetrate the vaccine shield in some cases. Now, if vaccine immunity wanes after 3 months, the chances of getting infected for Indians increases manifold. Hence, the government must also think seriously about the booster dose, at least for frontline workers and seniors.