‘Peak of wave soon, but it may also ebb quickly'

National health experts feel that though Covid cases may peak in India very soon, the current wave driven by the Omicron variant of the virus may ebb equally fast.

- Nisha.Nambiar

“Global data and our own experience during the past five weeks reveal the infection caused by Omicron is mostly asymptomatic or mild. A few seriously ill hospitalized patients either had other co-morbidities and are over 60 years of age. The overall hospitalization rate for people affected by Omicron is 1-2%, which is much less to the rate of people requiring care in hospitals during the wave caused by Delta,” Dr N K Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization told TOIon Saturday.

“Over 80% of people in the country have been naturally infected by the virus. Over 91% adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while more than 66% people aged above 18 years have received both doses. Keeping all this in mind, the overall impact of the current surge is likely to be much less. There’s no need to panic. But we should remain vigilant and follow Covid protocols,” he said.