India's Omicron count reaches 40, Delhi reports 5 cases

"5 new cases of 'Omnicron' are detected in Delhi and a total of 40 new cases have been reported from pan India," said Dr Jayesh M Lele Secretary-General of IMA during a press conference held on December 6, 2021, at IMA headquarters, New Delhi. Then he gave some relatively good news, “ Omicron has proved to be less virulent in producing severe infections but definitely 5 to 10 times more potent in transmissibility than Delta Virus."

Further, he said, "We do not need to panic this time, situations are suspected not to be serious as 50% of the adult generation is vaccinated and we have already arranged the medical facilities such as oxygen cylinders and ICU beds, in case of emergencies. New research is also going on to discover new covid medications."

Also read | Understanding Omicron, the new Covid variant

National President, IMA, Dr J A Jayalal said, "Symptoms of Omicron are mild enough like fever and tiredness, it might not even come up with serious respiratory issues such a Pneumonia." IMA has also requested the Government of India to soon start with a third dose or booster dose of vaccines for frontline workers to prevent serious consequences.

Dr Jayesh added, "People with comorbidities such as diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiac disease and many more should also consider booster dose once the government allows it."

South Africa has shown a higher number of pediatric age groups are getting affected due to omicron. This can be an indication of the serious effect of the new variant on children. Jayalal said, "All the schools and colleges should adhere to the Covid protocols. They should only allow adult students at universities only with vaccination certificates." IMA appealed to follow all the covid protocols and to take full precautions to prevent the third wave.