New Corona Covid - Omicron

New Corona Covid - Omicron

-Dr. Lalit Kumar Setia

Why Omicron is new Corona? 

The South Africa variant Omicron started creating a challenge in front of the world and the World Health Organization is making efforts to study the impact of this virus. Some experts recommended that this variant is more dangerous than the Delta variant of Corona however, the research is still going on however the cases of this new variant are being detected. 

On 11th January, 2022 this Omicron variant had become a threat for whole world. In UK, the cases were jumped 52% in a single week. The Covid 19 Omicron cases were increasing, the WHO analysis stated that the cases were becoming double in just 1.5 to 2 days in the areas notified as community transmission of Omicron variant. The research was done to check whether the virus is able to evade immunity or  increasing with its inherent transmissibility or both. In India also, Omicron cases were started to be detected in lacs of people. But the Covid vaccination and Covid-19 appropriate behaviour managed everything to avoid the third wave of Covid-19 in India.  

The Chief Ministers of Bihar, Karnataka, Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, etc. had been detected as infected from Corona; everyone made himself isolated so that others not became infected due to their infection. The states declared restrictions to contain Omicron and Delta variants.

A concern of Interest – Omicron

The corona affected the whole world for the last 3 years, in the initial stage, Covid-19 first infections were not spreading faster. However, the world was not much aware of keeping social distancing and use of masks, that is why it took time to tackle the cases. But in its variants i.e. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta variant; most of the countries used vaccination to prevent the infections, but the variant affected most of the people which were not vaccinated. 

The next variant Omicron declared as a serious concern of interest however some experts had already conveyed it as a  lighter variant than the earlier variants and they claimed that the vaccinations had developed the necessary immunity to fight with the Omicron. Some experts were claiming that it as a serious concern with the thought that the people with vaccination can also be easily affected by Omicron. Both types of experts were right however, the vaccination and Covid-19 appropriate behaviour worked successfully in India. 

New York Declared Emergency

Without having a study of the virus, Omicron was neither declared light nor heavily dangerous. However, most of the countries around the world imposed restrictions on travelers, keeping in view that the earlier two variants had transmitted from one person to another and Omicron was also a variant of Corona therefore the restrictions were imposed. New York declared a state of emergency due to Omicron and had also banned travel to South Africa.

Panic was observed as countries were banning travel to Africa

For almost 2 years prior to Omicron (December 2021), the countries had opened the international flights but the Omicron variant made the countries to ban the travel to Africa and this idea worked successfully. The European Union, New York, India, etc. postponed their decisions to open the international flights. In December 2021, more than 50000 cases of Omicron had been detected around the world. 

However, the countries were monitoring the cases and matters very seriously because the Delta variant had already found more dangerous than its earlier variants Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Omicron was expected as more dangerous than the Delta variant.

The new infections of Corona were tested around the world for detecting Omicron and in many countries, cases had been found such as in Hong Kong and Botswana, cases were found after South Africa. Thereafter, cases were found in Belgium, Germany, the Czech Republic, Israel, Britain, etc. 

Panic in Stock Markets was also visible

During the first two variants, the stock market fell due to a lack of business activities as most of the countries had taken the decision of lockdown. The Alpha variant was detected in England and the Beta variant was detected in South Africa. 

Brazil observed the Gamma variant and thereafter the Delta variant in India. With the happening, it was clear that Corona had not stopped and the genomic structure of the virus is changing as per the nature of the virus. After Omicron, it is expected that it will again come in a different form soon after July 2022.

Will the world invent medicine to fight Corona?

There is vaccination of many diseases in medical science and most of the vaccination is successful also. The Covid-19 is declared a pandemic and medical science is trying to find out the solutions, the vaccination on basis of boosting immunity protected the world from worse impacts of Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omicron variants of Corona virus. 

In case of epidemics earlier on the earth such as plague, cholera, polio, AIDS, etc; the treatments are available as of today. In the initial stages of these epidemics, the diseases were new and medicines were not available but with the passing of time, medical science not only invested in the medicines but also cured the diseases. Medical science is most trusted around the world due to such successes.  

It will be too early to say whether medical science is going to invent the medicine and treatment for this Corona soon. But it is very much possible and the countries are constantly working upon it. Till the time medicine is not invented, precautions are the best means to prevent it.

Covid Omicron In Mumbai Maharashtra India

The keeping of physical distance of two yards and wearing of the mask; considered as the best protocol to prevent the Corona in India and people were sensitised to not adopt carelessness in implementing the protocol. The doctors were recommended to keep the protocol followed even after vaccination.

Thousands of cases of Omicron had been reported in Maharashtra India. Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure had also been imposed to prohibit rush in the metro cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai. As the cases were increasing slowly slowly, initially it was expected that Omicron is lighter but it also impacted a lot however restrictions travelling the long distances worked in preventing the Omicron. 

What was new in Omicron than Delta as per Doctors:

A London doctor had warned that rashes had been observed as a symptom of Omicron variant of Corona, in the children. However, these symptoms had not been found in the adults. Apart from this, problems like fatigue, headache and loss of appetite, etc. were also identified as symptoms, the rashes was one of major symptom and this symptom was either on body joints or on palms and below the feet. The main symptoms of corona i.e. cough, high fever and loss of taste and smell, were not visible in Omicron.  

However, it was observed that within 48 hours, a person affected from Omicron variant noticed the following symptoms - runny nose, prickling throat, headache, fatigue and sneezing apart from lower back pain, muscle pain and night sweats.  

Status of Covid Omicron in India 

The cases of corona virus and its new variant Omicron initially had gained momentum in the country but then the cases be controlled. In Delhi, according to the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) of Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), when the positivity rate had become more than 5 percent for two consecutive days, then a red alert i.e. total curfew was imposed. The DDMA had announced 'Yellow Alert'. The Delhi government had also imposed weekend curfew in the state after issuing yellow alert. There was a ban on leaving the house without any reason. Along with this, work from home of government employees was also used to contain the Omicron. All theaters and gyms in Delhi had been closed under the Yellow Alert.

In Mumbai, thousands of new cases of corona had stirred up. The Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar decided that as the daily COVID-19 cases increased, a lockdown be imposed in the city as per the norms of the central government. He had also suggested to wear a triple-layer mask while traveling in public transport buses and local trains and also appealed to the people to get vaccinated at the earliest and follow all the COVID-19-related Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

The Corona in Kolkata had also given dangerous signs because hundreds of doctors and policemen in three different hospitals of the city had been found Corona positive.  Thousands of cases were found active in the state. The Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee ordered to close all the schools, colleges and universities in the state. 50 percent attendance had been implemented in private and government offices.

In West Bengal, swimming pools, spas, beauty parlors, cinema halls, tourist spots were closed in December 2021 and January 2022 and 50% people had been ensured to enter shopping malls. At the same time, local trains and metro were also directed to run with 50 percent capacity.

In Uttar Pradesh, significant cases of Corona positive people were detected. Hundreds of new cases of corona and also of the new variant Omicron had also been reported in the state.  The government had imposed the same restrictions as in Delhi and Mumbai.

*Copyright © 2021 Dr. Lalit Kumar. A few rights reserved. Use this information in the public interest.

This content is written by Dr. Lalit Kumar Setia; a renowned author and trainer. He completed his Doctorate in Commerce from Kurukshetra University Kurukshetra and MBA in Information Technology from GJU, Hisar. He also wrote two books, 15 research papers, and organized more than 200 Training Courses during his working period since 2006 in Haryana Institute of Public Administration, Gurugram. The article was published on 2nd December 2021 and last updated on 15th February 2022. The writer can be contacted on lalitkumarsetia@gmail.com 

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