Omicron variant of Covid 5 times more transmissible than Delta

Bhubaneswar: The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is five times more transmissible than the Delta variant, said Odisha Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra.

He has said that those who will be detected with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 will be kept in a separate ward in hospitals. Separate wards will be set up in hospitals for people detected with Omicron variant to ensure they don’t come in contact with other patients.

“Omicron-infected will not be allowed to stay in home isolation. The health department has been keeping a strict check on foreign returnees,” added Public Health Director.

It is still unknown that how many patients will need hospitalization and how many people will suffer critically from the new Omicron variant of Covid. However, the symptoms seem to be similar to the earlier variants of Covid.

The impact of Covid vaccines against this new variant is yet to be ascertained. Special Covid Hospitals are in standby mode due to the fewer number of Covid patients now.

The Public Health Director also said that whenever the local representative and the village chief would inform the surveillance team, it would immediately arrive in the area to conduct the RT-PCR tests. The government is keeping an eye on the citizens who are registering themselves with the Air Suvidha portal.

Earlier, the Director of Health & Family Welfare Bijay Panigrahi had said that the Covid vaccines will act as a protective shield against the new Omicron variant of coronavirus. He said that even if the vaccines do not provide 100 percent protection against the new Covid variant, it will still act as a shield.

Also read: Covid vaccines will act as a protective shield against Omicron variant: Odisha Health Director