On November 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that a new variant of the Coronavirus- ‘Omicron’ was detected in South Africa and a few other countries. Calling it a variant of ?concern? WHO issued an advisory and asked nations to stay alert.
Experts believed that Omicron was six times more transmissible than the Delta variant of COVID. However, currently, there are no studies, which could prove the same.
According to AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria, the new variant has the potential of developing immunoescape mechanisms, which may lead to a decreased efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines. Also, the efficiency of vaccines in India needed to be evaluated critically.
As per the experts, Omicron’s genetic profile raised concerns, but with a significant handicap – there’s a shortage of data, which meant that as of now, nobody has the complete picture of its capabilities and it is still unclear how big a threat it posed.
An Indian passenger, who landed in Mumbai on November 24, from South Africa, had tested COVID positive, said reports. After testing COVID positive, his sample was sent to check for the newly-emerged ‘Omicron’ variant.
The passenger, who works in the merchant navy, is a resident of Dombivli, Mumbai. He had returned to India from South Africa via Dubai. He then took a flight from Dubai to New Delhi.
After arriving in Mumbai from New Delhi, he tested positive for COVID-19. It is still not clear whether he got exposed to the virus in South Africa, New Delhi or Mumbai.
The 35-year-old man home quarantined himself after testing positive. However, he was later admitted to Dombivli Municipal Corporation’s isolation ward.
His samples will be sent for genome sequencing to ascertain whether he has been infected with new variant Omicron. Meanwhile, his brother has been tested negative, and other family members samples will be collected on Monday, said an official attached to the Municipal Corporation.