Nations omicron scare rises as Nagpur detects first case in COVID positive man

Nagpur has reported its
first case of omicron, detected in a 40-year-old man. Reports say he has a
history of foreign travel and had arrived in the country from a West African city.
Tensions ran high as the genome sequencing results confirmed the presence of
the omicron variant, besides establishing the individual had coronavirus. Naturally,
he will be kept in isolation and only released once he tests negative.

India has quite a few
omicron cases popping up, with Karnataka reporting its third, found in a 34-year-old
man returning from South Africa. Notably, the country has already taken
measures by imposing stricter rules for foreign travel and putting measures in
place so that international travellers are properly tested
and screened. This allows the government to identify and quarantine those
effected, preventing the omicron variant from penetrating the society.

Also Read | How will the world decide when the pandemic is over?

Omicron obviously has
the nation worried, especially since the Indian Medical Association warned the
country of a possible massive third wave, if the spread of the new variant is
not controlled. While the body did not support the travel bans in place, it did
ask all travellers to exercise immense caution. Major cities are expected to be
the worst affected if the variant does spread. This is mostly because the
symptoms are remarkably similar to a common cold, with no respiratory problems
or high temperatures, which were synonymous with the other variants.

Also Read | Queensland reports 2 genetically different omicron cases

However, reports have emerged now to show that
the omicron variant might be a mild variant, and vaccinations are effective
against it. Further, there have been talks of booster doses to combat omicron
as well. For now, the medical association has urged the Indian government to
increase immunisation, and vaccinate the population, especially those aged from 12 to 18. On top of that,
conducting rigorous testing and tracing to find secondary contacts will help
monitor and control the omicron situation in the nation.