Be cautious, don’t panic over new variant: Experts

The state’s Covid task force members and public health experts stressed on masking and vaccination but told people that they should not panic over the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

Nisha Nambiar ,
TNN

Published On Dec 12, 2021 at 07:25 PM IST

PUNE: The state’s Covid task force members and public health experts stressed on masking and vaccination but told people that they should not panic over the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

They claimed that there was a need to be cautious after the detection of 32 cases of the new variant in the country though the patients’ symptoms were mild. The state task force member, Dr Shashank Joshi, said Omicron was still an understudy virus. “We cannot let our guard down for the next two months,” he said.

He said currently, the cases were sporadic and travel-related. “We have to keep a close watch on any community transmissions, as happened in three countries now -- South Africa, Denmark and the UK. Also, there is a need to closely follow the outcome of hospitalisations, treatment in ICUs and deaths. Currently, all the trends seem to be reassuring though there is a threat of Delta being replaced by Omicron. But still it is premature to jump to any conclusions,” said Dr Joshi.

On the same note, Dr Lalit Kant, former scientist and head (epidemiology and communicable diseases division) of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), said it was too soon to comment conclusively about the transmissibility and the nature of disease caused by the new variant of the SARS CoV-2. “It would take about a month’s time for the global experience to emerge. Till then, everyone should be on alert and practice Covid-appropriate behaviour,” he told TOI.

He said the preliminary reports gave an impression that it caused mild disease, but all precautions should not be thrown to the wind. “The infection is still around, and we need to be careful. Those who have not taken the vaccine yet should do so, and those who have taken the first dose but the second is due, should go for it,” he said.

Everybody should be cautious about any new variant of concern and think about responses in different scenarios. “Vulnerable continues to be vulnerable. A small proportion of a large number will still be a lot of affected people.