People should be cautious, should not take 3rd wave lightly: Health experts

New Delhi [India], January 5 (ANI): As 81 per cent of Delhi's COVID cases report to be that of the highly transmissible Omicron variant, health experts are of the belief that the virus can mutate further and have warned all to be very cautious and not to take the third wave lightly.
The national capital has been listed among the states showing an unprecedented surge in Covid cases since last week.
As per the reports available, the Omicron variant of the virus that spreads 70 times faster as compared to other Covid variants cause milder infection.
Since it is an RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) virus in nature, the Sar COV has undergone several mutations.
While speaking with ANI, Dr SCL Gupta, the Medical Director of Batra Hospital said, "This is an RNA virus that keeps mutating; at which point it'll change its mutation from Omicron to something else, we will never know."
"We have to be very conscious about this particular third wave and must not take it lightly," he added.
The doctor further said that the Omicron is restricting itself to bronchus (a large airway that leads from the trachea, i.e. windpipe to a lung), whereas, "Delta causes damage to the lung tissues" which is why the oxygen requirement was at such a high during the second wave.
With cases mounting to 58,097 cases across India, health experts have also expressed fear that this increased number might create panic among people.
Health experts at large also suggested that the government, this time, cannot afford to be lenient at all. They also advocated for strict action against those who are not following the necessary protocol.
Dr Atul Gogia, a senior consultant of the Department of Medicine at Sir Gangaram Hospital said, "One needs to be very cautious and should never let their guards down (Covid Appropriate Behaviour). Because once it goes for a toss, the high volume of cases may lead to casualties."
"We have to be alert and not panic. One has to be prudent enough to understand that precaution is the most important thing along with updated vaccination," he added.
Experts have also emphasised the acceleration of genome sequencing for every reported Covid case.
India has logged 58,097 new COVID cases in the last 24 hours, and the daily positivity rate is at 4.18 per cent the Union Health Ministry informed on Wednesday. The active caseload of COVID cases in the country now stands at 2,14,004.
As per the Ministry, 2,135 cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in India, of which 828 have recovered. Maharashtra and Delhi are among the worst-hit states with the highest number of recorded Omicron cases at 653 and 464 respectively. (ANI)