Omicron - New Variant of Corona

 Omicron - New Variant of Corona

Border Security in Nations

To avoid the risk of the importation and transmission of new variant of Corona in Canada, yesterday, Canada's Minister of Health and Minister of Transport announced new border measures. The new variant is harmful even for the people with vaccination of Covid-19 and it is advised to have quartine measures for all. 

It is fact that the border security restricted the Covid-19 earlier and now it will be helpful in reducing the impact of Omicron as well. The unvaccinated travelers are tested on arrival and also on day 8 so that it is confirmed whether the person is infected from Corona or not. It is mandatory by most nations to keep the travelers' quartine for at least 14 days before permitting them to enter the nation. 

Surveillance and Monitoring of Cases

The Government of India is continuously assessing the cases being reported from the new variant Omicron. It is a must to work with the collaboration of state governments and the guidelines are being issued at regular intervals. The foreigners who arrived in India in the last few days are being monitored so that the cases can be reduced. There is increased scrutiny of quartine plans for travelers not only at the national border but also at the borders of Delhi. 

Omicron and Delta are making the situation worse:

The Corona is now airborne disease and the masks are the best way to prevent from it however, it is must to wear accurate type of mask with a good prescribed method. 

The people infected from Corona, required to take great care to not spread it to others. The people not affected from Corona required to wear the masks and keep distancing without being careless. The infected people can spread it by talking, coughing and sneezing. Everyone while talking, coughing, and sneezing should wear the masks and others should also be cautious about it.

What can a mask do to protect from Corona

Actually, the virus transmits from one person to another as part of particles and droplets exhaled by an infected person in from of uninfected person/s who inhale the same particles and droplets.

The basic problem is, people are wearing masks when they are alone and not talking with others; while they are not wearing masks at the time of talking or giving lecture to others in a closed space.

In case, the masks are used in indoor spaces compulsorily like in offices, homes, halls, classrooms, temples and also the locations wherever crowds are seen such as malls, buses, trains, etc. 

The mask should cover mouth and nose and also fit the face snugly at the edges, so the air exhale or inhale only passes through the filtering material. The mask should also be moulded to the nose bridge — a plastic or metal clip is usually provided or built into the mask for this purpose.

Omicron in Canada

Hundreds of cases had been confirmed of Omicron in Canada. The Government is very strict and taking measures to contain it. The Canada Government increased the capacity for finding out and tracking the people with this new variant of Omicron and invested more than $50 million in it. Vaccination is required to travel within and out of Canada. 

New Restrictions in Ontario

In Ontario, the restrictions are imposed on businesses to include use 50-per-cent capacity limits for most indoor settings. The timings of bars and restaurants are revised to contain the Omicron variant of Corona. The businesses in Canada have been suffering since the emergence of Covid pandemic.

Is it the third wave of Covid-19?

Yes, probably it is the next wave of the virus after Covid-19, however, the awareness of Covid makes everyone take necessary precautions to prevent it. Medical science formed vaccines to boost immunity for fighting with the Covid-19. South Africa and Russia are working to detect the symptoms of the new virus Omicron, known as a new variant of Corona.

The year 2022 - Omicron, a new threat:

The symptoms are different from the earliest virus Covid-19. However, this virus is harmful to people with low immunity. Therefore, the doctors are recommending boosting the immunity for fighting with a new variant of the corona, Omicron. 

The research identified the symptoms of Omicron and found that it's maybe a mild disease than Covid but it should be taken lightly because people with low immunity can easily be affected by it. 

It is fact that the year 2020 was horrible due to the influence of the virus Covid-19 and the revised wave of the Covid-19 in the year 2021 was not affected much due to implementing vaccination programs around the world. But in the year 2022, the Omicron may be dangerous. 

Omicron - Symptoms in its patients

South Africa experienced the Omicron virus and the doctors of South Africa recommended to not take this new variant lightly. However, the symptoms of Omicron are different from the Delta variant of Corona.

The symptoms are lighter than the symptoms of Delta variant, means it is more dangerous because a person with Omicron infection is not easily identifiable as compared to a person who is infected with Delta variant. 

The president of the South African Medical Association, Angelique Coetzee reported that the patients of Omicron have common symptoms of feeling fatigue, headache, body aches, sore throat, and cough. If these symptoms are not cured with normal medicines, then probably it is Omicron. The Covid testing can trace the symptoms and it has been recommended to test the people suspicious for infection of Omicron. The symptoms of the Covid-19 and Delta variant of Corona were similar but the Omicron is different in terms of its symptoms. The patients who were affected from Corona earlier should be more cautious as their immunity was weak probably this variant is also affecting the people with low immunity. 

In the Delta variant, the patients had difficulty in inhaling oxygen and that's why the pulse rate was high in its patients and there was the loss of smell and taste in the patients. 

Omicron - Will it be more dangerous?

It's too early to say whether the new variant of the Corona, Omicron will be more dangerous or not. Its symptoms are different than the Delta variant of the Corona. Any disease which is incurable can be deadly and dangerous. Since Corona has already affected most of the countries in 2019, 2020, and 2021 it is required to specifically focus upon Omicron and do more research on it. 

The Governments issued the guidelines at par with the earlier variants that are to wear masks and keep social distancing, however, it is not clear whether this new variant of the Corona is also at the same level of affecting nearby people or not.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is keeping an eye upon it and the guidelines are being issued to contain it at the earliest. 

Omicron may spread rapidly in India:

The Omicron virus keeping in view the density of India, may spread very rapidly. This is forecasted by Juliet Pulliam, the Director of the South African DSI-NSF Centre for excellence in Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis. The rapid growth is expected due to a combination of immune evasion and its higher transmissibility than the previous variants of Corona. The experts are putting emphasis to make necessary hospital planning to face the uncertain circumstances from this Omicron.

It's infectious but not dangerous

It is observed in India that thousands of cases of Omicron infection spreaded fastly but most of the patients are getting cured by basic medicines of pain and fever. But recognising the Omicron over Delta variant is a challenging task because both the variants are found at different locations.

However, the people with less immunity are still at risk. Because the persons who are recovering from basic medicines are mostly those who have developed immunity from vaccine along with natural immunity made from infection in India and this hybrid immunity is showing effective.

Therefore, there is absolutely no need to panic, just through precaution, we can overcome this Omicron virus.

The doctors at Sivan Hills Hospital in Mumbai said that the HRCT scans showed that the Omicron infection did not affect the lungs. This has been revealed in HRCT scans of all patients. Of the total, 78 percent of the cases, the patients had taken both the doses of the vaccine. The two who had not received a single dose of the vaccine also did not show any serious symptoms.

The natural immunity is most effective in preventing infection. In people who have developed antibodies due to infection with corona, the immunity developed due to the vaccine creates hybrid immunity and will provide better protection.

*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 2nd December 2021. The writer can be contacted on lalitkumarsetia@gmail.com 

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