Omicron rapidly replacing earlier strains, says ICMR

PUNE: Omicron was fast replacing the earlier circulating SARS-CoV-2 (coronavirus) strains in most of the metropolitan cities and the areas having 70% Delta cases in the end of December last year might see a change now, stated officials from the Indian Council of Medical Research.

“We cannot say that a select number of states have more presence of Omicron than others because samples are sent from limited areas. But largely we can say Omicron’s presence is more than Delta in Maharashtra and Delhi,” said additional director-general of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Samiran Panda on Thursday.

He said, “The situation is dynamic. So, the areas that had 70% Delta in end-December last year might see a change now, as is the trend worldwide.”

The ICMR scientist said, “What is important to understand is that the SARS-COV-2 infection is continuing. Therefore, the vaccination drive needs to continue with speed, with increased masking, avoidance of unnecessary travel and mass gathering. We cannot afford to lower our guards at this juncture even if Omicron is slowly replacing Delta in most pockets.”

State surveillance officer Dr Pradip Awate had said earlier that over 50% samples in the state were of Omicron and it was replacing Delta slowly in most pockets. “It is slowly replacing Delta even in the pockets where its prevalence was 70% last month,” he said.

Dr Rajesh Karyakarte, the state in-charge of genome sequencing, also said Omicron was slowly replacing Delta in the pockets reporting a spike. “Each spike is caused by a new variant. In this case, it is Omicron. So, pockets like Mumbai, Pune and Thane are seeing Omicron replace Delta,” he said.