China Covid 19 outbreak: Omicron rears again, India alert

Hyderabad: On December 21st, there are 3101 new cases reported in China. The number of active cases are 37, 180 and of them 36,851 are mild and 329 are in serious condition.The government of India has decided to strengthen surveillance in view of the Omicron variants outbreak in China. In a high-level meeting of the Covid 19 Task Force, ministry of health and family welfare the situation was reviewed on Wednesday morning. It has been decided that sample collection from different states where there are spurts of Covid 19 cases must be increased.

There is a need to increase the genome sequencing to understand the different variants of Covid 19 virus. It is also very important to be alert the air-travelers as there is a possibility of them carrying the virus and transmitting it further. Hence monitoring of air travel is an important factor.

Why are cases in China increasing?

On December 21st, there are 3101 new cases reported in China. The number of active cases are 37, 180 and of them 36,851 are mild and 329 are in serious condition. The Omicron sub-variant BF.7 and BA.5.1.7 are the reason for the surge in new cases in China.

Another reason is the re-infections of Covid 19. Dr Kiran Madhala, senior government doctor at Government Medical College in Nizamabad explained, "Those who are immune-compromised are getting infected with Omicron and that is leading to serious and critical cases." Another reason is the impact of Long Covid 19 which has led to damage to organs and reinfections further aggravating the conditions.

According to the genome sequencing reports from China:

Most common Omicron variant is BA.2.75@14 percent, Other Omicron variants are BA.5.2, BF.5, BF.7, BN.1.1.1, BN.1.3, BQ.1.10, BQ.1.2 and XXB

Steps to be taken by India

In the wake of the increasing cases in China and also new cases in United States of America and Brazil, scientists and medical community believe that cases of Covid 19 must be closely monitored for new variants. With Omicron evolving, there is a concern that there will be new variants this winter season. The evolution of the virus will lead to a new variant but it's transmissibility and impact on humans is difficult to predict. Scientists working with INSAGOG say, "We have to alert and watch for mutations. If there is a new variant it is important to assess the situation. For now, the variant in the world is Omicron. The genome sequencing samples worldwide are showing 99.9 per Omicron only"

Different variants of SARS-Cov 2

The original virus from Wuhan in 2019 is no longer in circulation. The variants of concern and interest are now named in different Greek Alphabet. The variants of interest like ETA, IOTA and KAPPA have been removed from the watch list. The variants of concern like ALPHA, BETA, GAMMA, DELTA and OMICORN are to be closely watched.