What Do we Know About Omicron so Far : Omicron FAQs Answered by Health Ministry | Watch Video

India reports 8,306 new Covid-19 cases, Omicron tally crosses 20 as on December 6. What Do we Know About Omicron so Far : Omicron FAQs Answered by Health Ministry.

Will Omicron Lead to a third wave?

It is likely to spread in India

Due to vaccination coverage + high seropositivity, severity of disease is ‘ is anticipated to be low’ in India

Will Existing Vaccines work?

No evidence that existing vaccines don’t work

Some mutations on the virus may decrease the efficacy of existing vaccines

Vaccines also protect against severe Covid-19 and dealth by producing T-cells which are expected to be well preserved despite Omicron’s rise

What do we know about Omicron so far?

It has a high number of mutations which have predicted features of increased transmission and immune evasion

There is also some preliminary evidence of increased reinfections

Can existing tests detect Omicron?

RT-PCR tests detect specific genes in the virus , such as spike(S)

In Omicron, the S gene is heavily mutated

So, test results may show absence of the S gene

This absence is used as one of the features to diagnose Omicron

But to confirm, genomic sequencing is required

What precautions can I take?

Get fully vaccinated

Wear two masks/N95 masks

Maintain social distancing

Wash hands regularly

Ventilate when indoors