India detects first 2 cases of Omicron in Karnataka

The Union Health Ministry said the male patients- one aged 66 years and the other 46 years of age had returned to India from South Africa.

“All primary contacts and secondary contacts of both the cases have been traced and are being tested,” Health Secretary Lav Agarwal said.

Public health experts warned they expected the highly mutant strain to spread around the world and in India, despite travel restrictions. The World Health Organization has warned that the global risk from the Omicron variant is “very high”.

So far, 373 cases of omicron infection have been reported in 29 countries. The WHO stated that the oomicron is a highly divergent variant with a large number of mutations, some of which are of concern and may be associated with increased immunity and high transmission potential.

However, health officials said that there is no need to panic. “According to WHO, 45-52 mutations have been noted, of which 26-32 are related to the spike protein. Preliminary data suggest an increased growth rate, but it is not yet known if Omicron is more permeable than other forms of anxiety, including delta. Reports of cases of Omicron range from mild to severe. It is too early to assess whether infection causes more or less severe disease than other types of infection, including delta,” Agarwal said.

“Preliminary data suggest that hospitalization rates are increasing in South Africa, but this may reflect strength of infection rather than increased virulence. The scenario of circulating variants in India has overestimated other variants since April.” Delta showed dominance,” he said.

The Omicron variant was first reported in South Africa on 24 November, and the second case was reported from Botswana. On 26 November, WHO declared Omicron to be ‘Version of Concern’.

India started monitoring international travelers last month. A total of 37 international flights landed from midnight of December 1 till 8 am on Thursday. The number of passengers from “at-risk” countries stood at 7,976 who were tested. According to the government, ten passengers were found to be Covid positive.

“We have revised international guidelines, travelers from designated countries at risk will have to follow additional measures including RT-PCR after arrival; Samples to be sent for genome sequencing At least 2% of passengers on international flights will undergo RT-PCR test on arrival. RT-PCR test can detect omicrons,” Agarwal said.

The WHO on Thursday asked India to strengthen prevention measures. “The confirmation by India today of the Omicron version of the concern, the first two cases in the WHO South-East Asia region, was not unexpected given the interconnected world in which we live. It emphasizes the need for all countries to increase surveillance. Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, regional director for the WHO South-East Asia region, said that they are on alert and rapidly detecting any imports, and taking measures to contain the spread of the virus.

Singh recommended that people continue to take all precautionary measures even after vaccination. All travelers should observe public health and social measures at all times and be alert to the signs and symptoms of COVID-19.

India recorded over 9,765 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. “At least 54% of the total cases in the last week have been reported from Kerala. So even when the overall positivity relaxes across the country, a large number of districts are reporting high case positivity,” said Agarwal.

India’s active caseload stands at 99,763, accounting for 0.29% of the total positive cases, the lowest since March 2020. India has conducted over 643.5 million tests so far.

Public health experts said India’s large population could give the virus a chance to spread. Vikas Maurya said, “Since the Omicron virus is highly transmitted, it can spread rapidly and infect a large number of people, although we do not know whether it will be as severe or more severe than the delta version or the earlier version.” Will be lighter than the version.” Dept., Director, Pulmonology, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh.

“High-risk individuals should be more careful. At some point, we may have to decide to give a booster dose of the vaccine to high-risk individuals. Another wave will not only increase morbidity and mortality but will also incur a huge economic cost to individuals and the country.”