New Delhi: The Indian SARS-CoV-2-Genomic Sequencing Consortia (INSACOG) has admitted that Omicron is now in community transmission in India. The admission made by India's genomic sequencing consortia comes at a time when the country has been witnessing an unprecedented spike in number of Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus.
"Omicron is now in community transmission in India and has become dominant in Delhi and Mumbai, where new cases have been rising exponentially," said INSACOG in its latest bulletin.
It said that spread of Omicron in India is now expected to be through internal transmission, not foreign travellers, and a revised sampling and sequencing strategy of INSACOG is being worked out to address genomic surveillance objectives in the wake of dynamic changing scenario of virus infection.
"Most Omicron cases so far have been asymptomatic or mild. Since initial detection has primarily been vaccinated travellers, this should not be taken to mean that Omicron infection will also be mild in high-risk unvaccinated subjects," the INSACOG said.
The threat level remains high and requires constant vigil as the situation rapidly evolves with community spread. "Covid appropriate behaviour and vaccination are main shields against all form mutations of SARS-CoV-2 virus," the INSACOG said.
It said that the attack rate of Omicron has been reported to be higher than that of Delta, especially in non-family contacts. "Two doses of vaccines do not appear to be effective in preventing infections but remain effective in reducing severity," it said.
Asserting that Omicron has become dominant in multiple metros, where new cases have been rising exponentially. "BA.2 lineage is a substantial fraction in India and S-gene dropout based screening is this likely to give false negatives. Tests suitable for PCR based screening applicable to all Omicron lineages have been approved for use. While most Omicron cases so far have been asymptomatic or mild, hospitalization and ICU cases have been increasing in the current wave. The threat level remain unchanged," the INSACOG said.
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It said that the recently reported B.1.640.2 (IHU) lineage is being monitored. "There is no evidence of rapid spread and while it has features of immune escape, it is currently not a variant of concern. So far, no case detected in India," the INSACOG said.
However, as Omicron contributes a high number of cases, absolute number of hospitalisation is likely to be high and has created stress on healthcare systems of several European and North American countries where the Omicron wave is weeping currently, the INSACOG said.
"While deaths have been much lower during the new wave, compared to previous waves, there have been Omicron associated deaths. "In data so far, the majority of severe cases and deaths have been in unvaccinated subjects, with high protection associated with vaccination or previous infection," the INSACOG said.
The INSACOG reports genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 across the country through sequencing of samples from sentinel sites and also detailed state wise district analysis. The consortia has so far sequenced 1,50,710 samples across the country.
