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Non-testing and delaying treatment of Omicron variant of Covid may lead to increase in spread of the pandemic as it can be asymptomatic, according to K Hari Prasad, President, Apollo Group of Hospitals.
Milder symptoms
“The perception that Covid infection with Omicron variant is mild and there is no need to panic about it is dangerous for multiple reasons,” he said in a statement.
“It is much more contagious than the previous variants and a single infected patient can potentially infect many more than the previous variants,” he said.
Since Omicron causes relatively milder symptoms, people often brush it off as a small cold.
“If one is actually infected and does not know it is Covid infection due to Omicron, they tend to move around as normal people and infect scores of people in the community,” Prasad warned.
Delta vs Omicron
That Omicron does not cause serious disease and death is gradually becoming the common belief.
However, when symptoms develop and one does not get tested, it is practically impossible to differentiate between a Delta infection and an Omicron infection.
“All of us are aware that the Delta variant is more dangerous and we have had a terrible experience during the second wave. It is not right for someone who is symptomatic to not get tested and neglect a possible Delta infection,” Prasad said.
In this scenario it was important to accept that the pandemic is still on and it has the possibility of causing huge surges, he added.
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