Omicron shadow over Delta risks

The imposition of weekend curfew in Delhi following a spike in COVID -19 cases has sent ripples across the country about the third wave of pandemics gripping the country. It has also triggered the apprehension of partial lockdowns returning all over the country and leaving a cascading impact on the national and state economies. Precautionary measures to curb infections are important but pressing the panic button may jeopardise vaccination of teenagers in the bracket of 15 to 18 years. States rushing to shut down schools and colleges is fraught with the risk of disruptions in children's COVID vaccination programme that was launched on Monday. The media hype about the Omicron variant being less severe when the Delta variant continues to be the bigger worry has made the pandemic situation murkier and confusing for the general public. The severity of the Delta variant, which triggered the devastating second wave in the country with overwhelming hospitalisations, increased oxygen demand and high mortality, remains a cause of concern for health authorities. The governments need to listen to the experts that vaccinations at a faster pace to ensure that all eligible to receive COVID vaccines are fully vaccinated with both the doses at the earliest should top the list of priorities and preparedness. The Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO) Soumya Swaminathan has cautioned: "Omicron is not the common cold! Health systems can get overwhelmed. Important to have systems to test, advise and monitor a large number of patients as the surge can be sudden and huge." Infections caused by Omicron variant in fully vaccinated people are reported to be less severe but the hard reality before the country is about 35% of the adult population is still to be fully vaccinated and about 20% of the adult population is yet to get the first dose. Daily positivity rate rising to 3.24% has pushed the total daily new cases to over 37,000 and active caseload to 1,71,830 till Tuesday morning. Daily new cases on New Year's Day were around 22,000 and the total active caseload stood at 1,04,781. The spike over the past three days has sounded the alarm bell for health authorities against a sudden surge in hospitalisation and a possible rise in demand for oxygen and intensive care unit beds for treatment of severe infections of many among unvaccinated with comorbidity. Less severity of symptoms reported in fully vaccinated or partially vaccinated due to Omicron infection should not be allowed to mask the impending risk of the health system getting overwhelmed with patients with severe infections. Political rallies in five election-bound states are poised to become the super spreader of the third wave due to the large gathering of the crowd. The Meghalaya government has imposed fresh travel restrictions making RTPCR negative test certificates mandatory to enter the state. The hill state has also enforced odd-even formula for the movement of private vehicles in Shillong city. Such measures are aimed at preventing the spread of COVID infection but it adversely affects tourism and other economic activities. Increasing the pace of vaccinations to protect all eligible beneficiaries with both doses will increase the confidence of the government to relax the curbs so that economic activities are not disrupted merely due to apprehensions of infections. States increasing the capacity of COVID testing and ensuring uniform coverage in rural and urban areas is also critical to bolstering the confidence of health authorities so that they refrain from hastily pressing the panic button. States undertaking awareness drive on strict adherence to health advisories issued for home quarantine of asymptomatic patients or patients with mild symptoms will help reduce unnecessary pressure for institutional care. Community surveillance is also necessary to ensure that those advised home quarantine remained isolated as advised and report to the health authorities immediately whenever they come across any violation. Strict adherence to COVID protocols coupled with vaccination drive for teenagers and regulating attendance by resorting to alternate day classes or multiple shifts can help avoid panic shutting down of educational institutions. Ensuring the safety of students to and from home to educational institutions is equally important. School and district authorities besides parents must ensure that COVID protocols are strictly enforced in school buses as well as public transport and all public places. Apart from preventing learning losses, keeping the schools and colleges protected from COVID infection is also important for the successful conduct of the vaccination programme of the teenagers. Assam government's plan to fully vaccinate the candidates of High School Leaving Certificate and Higher Secondary examinations well ahead of the examination schedules will require prioritising these measures. Nevertheless, high transmissibility of Omicron variant and severity of Delta variant coupled with the presence of a large population of unvaccinated people call for the maximum level of preparedness. The response must be based on proper scientific advice by experts and not based on statistics highlighted without relevant context.