“Omicron’s very emergence is another reminder that although many of us might think we’re done with Covid-19, it’s not done with us,” the World Health Organization’s director-general said.
The world is witnessing yet another chaotic episode of panic and confusion as a new Covid-19 variant makes waves across the world. Omicron, the new variant of Covid-19 has been termed as the “worst ever” variant by WHO, as the first case is detected in South Africa.
It is also detected that the new variant Omicron is capable of being more contagious as compared to its parent variant as well as the Delta variant. According to scientists, it has mutated more than double as compared to the previously prevalent variants in the world.
So far, Denmark, Israel, Hong Kong, France, Scotland, Australia, Canada, and Botswana have reported cases from the Omicron variant.
Let’s have a detailed look at some of the unexpected facts related to Omicron virus and how the signs portray that one has the same virus?
What are Common Signs of Omicron Strain?
Dr. Angelique Coetzee states that people infected by the Omicron strain complain about having high pulse and fatigue episodes along with dry cough, muscular aches, and scratchy throat. High-grade fever is also observed in these patients.
Unlike the earlier strains, no loss of smell or taste or continuous coughing is spotted in these patients.
How different is the Omicron variant from the previous strains?
People infected by the Omicron variant have complained about having a severe “pulsing” headache which is said to last more than three days and none of the painkillers are of any help. This is different from the previously prevalent variants. Running nose and sore throat was a common symptom in patients suffering from Delta variant or other previously detected variants but these are not seen in patients who got infected by the Omicron variant.
How to know that anyone is infected by the Omicron variant?
It is still difficult to determine whether a person is infected by the variant or not, the only known way to curtail is to tell the patient to self-isolate whether they are completely vaccinated or not.
Why did WHO name it Omicron?
New variants of Covid-19 have received sequential names in Greek, a naming technique derived by the WHO expert committee. This system was selected in order to detect the different variants without any kind of discrimination or stigmatization.
Is the Omicron variant vaccine-resistant?
It is still not known whether the vaccines will be able to help combat the omicron variant or not.
According to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, “we don’t yet exactly know how effective our vaccines will be against Omicron, but we have good reasons for believing they will provide at least some measure of protection. And if you are boosted your response is likely to be stronger.”
According to the Health experts of South Africa, it will take “weeks and weeks” to determine how effective are the western vaccines against this most contagious Covid-19 variant ever.
What is being done to curtail the Omicron variant?
As soon as it was termed as the most contagious variant by WHO, countries started to impose travel bans with various countries where the virus was detected. It is expected that the world will undergo stricter restrictions in the upcoming days in order to eradicate the Omicron variant or to minimize its harmful effects to the maximum
