Heres why omicron will infect major Indian cities

The omicron variant of the coronavirus has
put the world on edge. Now, Dr. Rakesh Mishra, the director of Tata Institute
for Genetics and Society and former Chief of Council of Scientific and
Industrial Research-Centre For Cellular And Molecular Biology, has shared some
more disturbing news. It is the scientist’s belief that the major Indian cities
will be primarily affected. This is mostly because cities witness a higher volume
of people traveling.

Also Read | What is Omicron?

While the silver lining is that vaccines, including
Indian ones, are likely to remain effective against the virus, the primary cause
for concern is its rate of spreading. Most of the omicron cases have been
asymptomatic so far, which is why people fear it will spread even faster than
the Delta variant and go undetected for the most part. There is a high chance of
people ignoring the symptoms and believing they have contracted common cold.

Mishra chipped in with a similar observation,
saying that India has detected a few cases in the past few days. However, he
feels that we do not have a complete picture. Only if we carry out genomic sequencing
at a 100% capacity, we can know for sure how many people are infected. Currently,
there is a likelihood that people are asymptomatic and spreading the virus.
According to Mishra’s calculations, 70-80% won’t show any symptoms and will
mistake it as a common cold, since there is no loss of smell or lack of oxygen.
Thus, the infection will be present in most major cities where people are
traveling.

Also Read | How does Omicron compare with other COVID variants?

Currently, India has four confirmed cases
of omicron. Three have come from outside, including a 66-year-old South African
national who has now left India after testing negative. The others are a
72-year-old Zimbabwe based NRI who returned to Gujrat’s Jamnagar, and a
33-year-old marine engineer who returned from South Africa. Notably, the latter
is unvaccinated. Only the 46-year-old doctor in Bangalore, who has been diagnosed
with the omicron variant, does not seem to have any history of travel.
Naturally, due to the alarming situation both the centre and states are issuing
travel guidelines and advisories to curb the spread of this omicron variant.