India’s third wave of the Covid pandemic may be beginning to wane but the country is witnessing a rise in hospitalisation. Although most patients have a mild disease, the number of patients requiring oxygen support and hospitalisation has slowly been going up in the last 7 to10 days. The onslaught of the Omicron variant has already plateaued and the situation will be well under control by the end of this month. However, there is a need to remain vigilant and not throw caution to the winds. This was stated by Consultant Pulmonologist, Narayana Multispeciality Hospital in Jaipur, Dr. Shivani Swami. She lent her insight to understanding the Omicron variant, its rate of transmissibility, treatment strategy, and herd immunity against the virus.
Dr Swami further said that as per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the quarantine period has been reduced to 5 to 7 days. After which the next 5 days people can step out but they have to be cautious and keep their masks on at all times. This is because after 7 days the viral load reduces. Also, healthcare workers across the globe are getting severely infected and there is a dearth of workforce. So, keeping both these things in mind, the quarantine period has been reduced.
She also said that a dangerous trend that has been noticed is that those infected are having fever for which they are sitting at home for two days after which they go back to work without getting tested. It needs to be stressed upon that if you are displaying symptoms of Covid you must get tested. All of us have children or the elderly population around us and they need to be protected. The disease can take a complicated turn for children who are not vaccinated. It is important that people get tested, follow the proper quarantine period and not treat Omicron like mild flu.
Talking about the Omicron variant, she further said although Omicron is said to be milder, the variant is very contagious. The turnaround time that was 3-7 days in the Delta variant has reduced to 1-2 days in the Omicron variant. Vaccination has made a lot of difference. The severity is much less compared to last time. However, there is a huge scene of reinfection and breakthrough infection. So, there is a need to keep our guard up, get vaccinated, follow Covid appropriate behaviour and avoid panic.
