As the number of Omicron cases with COVID-19 variants in India reaches over 100, Indian health experts said the new variant could potentially be less severe, but the high rate of transmission could be a worrying factor.

Health experts have urged the country to be just as cautious as it was during the second wave of COVID-19. They also stressed the need for a booster dose and urged people to behave appropriately for COVID.

Experts emphasized that this time the administration must monitor closely and (if necessary) initiate tough preventive measures at an early stage.

Dr. GC Khilnani, Chairman Pulmonology, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, PSRI Hospital Views said, “We have seen COVID-19 spread in India with a time lag of 3-4 months since it spread to Western Europe, so we must be fair as careful as in the second wave. The protection that vaccination offers against infection also diminishes over time. It is time we announced a booster dose policy for people with comorbidities. “

“Previous evidence has shown that the latest variant reproduces faster, resulting in faster infection, but the cases reported in India showed milder infections,” he added.

Dr. Sheeba Marwah, Assistant Professor and COVID-19 Node Supervisor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Vardhma, Mahavir Medical College and Safdarjung Hospital, told ANI, “Although the severity of the infection caused by this variant is less than its predecessor, but replication, which is almost 70 times faster, is cause for concern. “

“Since we tend to make fully vaccinated prey ourselves, we could turn to an inevitable third wave,” added Dr. Marwah added.

Discovered in South Africa, Omicron, the latest variant of Covid, which is also “highly transmissible”, has now been reported in six states.

Several studies are currently underway to understand the infectiousness of the virus and the effectiveness of existing vaccines against it.

Amid a surge in Omicron variant cases in the country, the Department of Civil Aviation on Tuesday issued new guidelines for international travelers arriving at six major airports from “vulnerable” countries to make RT-PCR tests mandatory from December 20 to pre-order.

(Only the headline and image of this report may have been revised by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)

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