Omicron in India: The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is in the community transmission stage in India at present.
Also, it has now become dominant in several metro cities where new cases are on a record spike exponentially, as per INSACOG.
The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium, INSACOG keeps a check on variations in coronavirus across the country.
It helps to understand how it spreads and evolves, and also suggest the best possible public health responses.
It says that the BA.2 lineage which is an infectious sub-variant of Omicron has been detected in a considerable fraction in India.
So far, most of the Omicron cases have been asymptomatic or mild. Besides, hospitalisations and ICU cases have also witnessed a rising trend in the current wave.
Moreover, the threat level remains unchanged, INSACOG said in its January 10 bulletin that was released on Sunday.
“Omicron is now in community transmission in India and has become dominant in multiple metros, where new cases have been rising exponentially. BA.2 lineage is in a substantial fraction in India and S gene dropout based screening is thus likely to give high false negatives,” the bulletin adds.
The INSACOG, in its bulletin also adds that Omicron has now become dominant in Delhi and Mumbai.
It is worth noting that COVID-appropriate behaviour and vaccination remain the only shields against all form mutations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The INSACOG, under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, reports genomic surveillance of SARS CoV -2 through sequencing of samples from sentinel sites.
The WHO has also been warning against lowering the guards. Europe including France and Germany have been recording a spike in the Covid infections in the third wave.
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