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As the new Covid -19 variant, Omicron, has spread waves of fear and apprehension across the globe, doctors and researchers are racing to understand the threat that this variant poses to the world.
It might take several weeks for researchers to convey details accurately about Omicron. This might include an understanding of its resistance and transmissibility, and whether it can evade the of current vaccines.
However, scientists have labelled this variant as a matter of concern. This makes it more critical for everyone to know about Omicron and avoid its spread at all costs.
As there is very little understanding of what’s going on, and for doctors too, we aim to help you out.
In this blog post, we’ll share with you all the necessary details about Omicron and the various ways by which its spread can be prevented.
What has made scientists so worried about Omicron?
The evidence presented to the WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution prompted scientists to recognize Omicron as a variant of concern.
This data indicated the new variant has different mutations that could affect how easily it spreads, the harshness of sickness it may cause, and the efficacy of current COVID-19 vaccines.
How swiftly is Omicron spreading?
Omicron’s rapid increase in South Africa has caused worries among researchers as it indicates that the variant could spur volatile surges in COVID-19 cases elsewhere.
Scientists will be observing how Omicron spreads in other parts of South Africa and globally to paint a complete picture of its transmissibility.
Amplified surveillance in South Africa could lead scientists to overemphasize Omicron’s fast growth.
But if this trend is frequent in other countries, it’s very strong proof that Omicron has a higher transmission factor over other Covid variants.
Can Omicron augment the risk of reinfection?
According to WHO, maiden research has indicated that the new variant may augment the risk of reinfection for people who already had COVID-19.
However, the data is presently inadequate and more information need to be made available in the coming days. When it comes to testing for infections, current PCR tests are proficient at perceiving the Omicron variant.
Mandatory quarantine
Several countries have begun to tighten travel and entry restrictions when the WHO cautioned of a worldwide risk of a surge in infections.
Indian officials said that those coming from abroad need to strictly observe the 14-day mandatory quarantine despite whether their RT-PCR test conducted on arrival at airports returned a negative report or not.
However, those having home quarantine will require to get a retest on the eighth day. Yet, they will need to complete the binding quarantine period even if tested negative.
In the case of in-home quarantine, the returned passengers must avoid contact with other members of their family.
And most importantly, those who are yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should immediately receive the jab.
Will existing boosters enhance protection against Omicron?
The menace of Omicron has led some rich countries, such as the United Kingdom, to hasten and extend the roll-out of booster doses. However, it’s yet not clear how effective these supplementary doses will be.
Does Omicron cause trivial or more serious ailments than the previous ones?
Early reports have linked Omicron with trivial disease, boosting anticipations that the variant might be less serious than its precursors.
But this kind of information; which is often based on anecdotes or meagre crumbs of data — can be ambiguous.
The key challenge in evaluating whether a variant’s harshness is controlling for the many perplexing variables that can impact the course of sickness, especially when outbreaks like these are geographically localized.
8 Ways to Prevent the Spread of Omicron
Here is a list of factors that should be reflected upon in the wake of the Omicron variant to prevent its spread as much as possible.
1. Ensure health care facilities are prepared, not just on paper – but essentially resourced with staff, individual protective equipment, oxygen, and so on.
2. The Government must implement vaccine passports for entry where others gather, such as places of worship, cinema halls, public transport, and so on.
3. Evaluate bed availability at various level, especially at regional one, to help resolve on regional action to avoid crowding of facilities. Greater levels of restrictions need to be put on the public when the authority expect overcrowding of health facilities.
4. Vaccination might be a choice currently, but it should be aggressively promoted among the public. The authorities must continue their efforts at reaching out to the unvaccinated and under-immunised.
5. Encourage and follow responsible behaviour to avoid re-imposing of several restrictions, especially related to economy to punish all due to recklessness on part of a minority
6. Get your two jabs of Covid-19 immediately, if you haven’t.
7. Practice all the necessary measures that were meant to prevent the spread of Covid-19 earlier. This includes wearing a mask every time, washing your hands with soap and water several times a day, carrying your own sanitizer outdoors, and following strict social distancing of at least 1 meter.
8. Keep yourself healthy by consuming food items rich in proteins, minerals, vitamins, etc. to keep your immune system intact.
Final words
You must learn to live with the virus, and take a holistic view on the direct and indirect effects of the pandemic on livelihoods.
If you wish to avoid the damaging and indirect economic, social, educational, mental and other health effects of this pandemic, then make sure you follow all the necessary steps mentioned in this blog post.
Ensure you always follow the science and don’t believe in some other fallacy.
At last, learn from the mistakes of the past, and be daring in following the next steps.
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Disclamer:
Though all attempts are made to provide correct information on the subject, inadvertent & typographical errors arising out of manual intervention cannot be ruled out. It is requested to bring any such discrepancies to the notice of the blogger for correction.
