With the number of Omicron cases crossing 100-mark in India, top health officials on Friday appealed to people not to undertake “non-essential travel” and follow “Covid-appropriate behaviour” even during the upcoming assembly elections in five states in order to avoid a recurrence of the emergency situation now seen in a few European countries where Omicron cases are spiraling up.
India currently has 109 cases of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 with Maharashtra topping the list with 40 such patients followed by Delhi (22), Rajasthan (17), Karnataka (8) and Telangana (8).
Barring the lone example of a Bengaluru-based doctor, all Omicron-infected persons so far are either international travelers or people who came in contact with such passengers.
The central officials have asked the state authorities to impose curbs in districts if the test positivity rate goes beyond 5 per cent.
Also, a consultation process has begun with the Election Commission on the conduction of the assembly polls in five states including Uttar Pradesh – the country's most populous state. Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur are the other states where elections would be held.
“This is the time to avoid non-essential travel and mass gatherings. Also, it is time to observe low-intensity festivals,” said Balram Bhargava, director general, Indian Council of Medical Research.
Globally more than 27,000 Omicron cases have been found in 91 countries but the most concerning rise has been experienced by the UK and Denmark with nearly 12,000 and 9,000 plus cases, respectively. Norway too has close to 2,000 cases.
“A new phase of the pandemic is being experienced in Europe. Such a spread should not happen here,” said NITI Ayog member V K Paul, the government's principal advisor on Covid-19.
One of Omicron's worrying trend is its ability to spread very fast. Omicron is spreading faster than the Delta variant in South Africa where Delta circulation was low. But at the same time, it spread more quickly than Delta in places like the UK where the Delta circulation is high.
Government officials and health experts are keeping their fingers crossed on the so-called mild nature of the Omicron. “We should not dismiss Omicron as mild. Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the number of cases could once again overwhelm health systems,” said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia.
The concerns on Omicron come at a time when the reproduction number (R value) is more than one in almost all the metros with Delhi, Mumbai and Pune leading the chart.
“The large metros (with the exception of Bengaluru whose R has just gone below 1 it seems) all have R more than one and they have been showing such a situation for the past several weeks. Thus, urban India is definitely showing a rise in cases while the rest of India has not yet followed through,” said Sitabhra Sinha, a mathematician at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, who is successfully tracking the pandemic with his model.
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