Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 variants cause of concern in India, says expert

"Surveillance data shows a spike could be a result of Omicron variants like BA.2.38 in Gujarat which resulted in a four-fold rise in Covid cases. There are also reports of subvariants circulating in populations with high frequencies of vaccination and BA.1 and BA.2 infection. It is therefore evident that new variants are demonstrating features of immune escape, a matter that needs to be addressed with strong public health measures," said renowned health expert Dr. Tamorish Kole.

New Delhi: Days after Union Health Ministry has asked a few States to intensify Covid19 testing following a spike in cases, experts from India's health domain on Saturday said that the present spike could be because of BA.1, BA.2, and BA.2.38 variants of Omicron.

"There has been a substantial surge of Covid cases in a few states in India. Surveillance data shows a spike could be a result of Omicron variants like BA.2.38 in Gujarat which resulted in a four-fold rise in Covid cases. There are also reports of subvariants circulating in populations with high frequencies of vaccination and BA.1 and BA.2 infection. It is therefore evident that new variants are demonstrating features of immune escape, a matter that needs to be addressed with strong public health measures," said renowned health expert Dr. Tamorish Kole to ETV Bharat.

The Union Health Ministry has recently asked a few States to focus on districts reporting a high positivity rate and undertake adequate testing with a higher proportion of RT-PCR tests. For the past couple of weeks, States and UTs including Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, and Gujarat have been witnessing a rise in Covid cases.

Districts in these States have been registering a weekly Covid positivity rate between 5 to 10 percent and in some districts more than 10 percent. "Everyone has to go back to Covid appropriate behavior like wearing masks, social distancing, when possible attention to ventilation and air filtration to limit infections and reinfections," said Dr. Kole who is also the president of the Asian Society of Emergency Medicine.

We must understand that the pandemic is not over yet and we have a collective responsibility to fight it, he said. "Government and public health authorities must focus on vaccinations of all age groups and booster shots wherever applicable," said Dr. Kole.

These variants of Omicron are largely visible in several other countries as well. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, multiple lineages of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) have emerged in recent months with subvariants BA.1 and BA.2 showing substantial escape from neutralizing antibodies.

Significantly, subvariant BA.2.12.1 is now the dominant strain in the United States, and BA.4 and BA.5 are dominant in South Africa. When asked about the necessity to impose restrictions on travel, following a spike in Covid cases, Dr. Kole said that such restrictions will only be necessary when there is an extreme surge.

As per health ministry data, India's active caseload currently stands at 91,779 with 15,940 new cases reported in the last 24 hours. Kerala registered an increase of 926 active cases in the last 24 hours, whereas Maharashtra registered 450 cases, Tamil Nadu-738, and Telangana-274. West Bengal registered 460 active cases in the last 24 hours.