Covid-19: Is Omicron more dangerous than delta variant?

The new variant of Sars_Cov_2, Omicron, which has originated from South Africa, has created a lot of scare across the globe. Public Health experts claim that it is far more infectious than the Delta variant which has caused many deaths in India.

At present, this new variant has spread to more than 60 countries including India and governments in various countries have started looking for measures to contain its spread. According to reports, while the United States of America has started administering a booster dose, the government in the UK has also proposed to do the same.

However, the million-dollar question is, “Is the Omicron variant more dangerous than Delta one?”

“At present, there is no confirmation that Omicron has caused any death but it is very clear that it is spreading very fast and going from one country to another. So it is very difficult to predict whether it is more dangerous or not, however, I believe we need to be very watchful,” Dr Rahul Bhargava, noted Hematologist, Fortis Hospital, Gurugram said.

An infectious disease expert working with the government said on the condition of anonymity, “Looking at the current death data, it looks like it is not as dangerous as Delta variant because none of the reported patients has died yet. It is great news for all of us and it looks like this new variant may not cause as severe infection as Delta did.”

“In fact, in many countries where Omicron has reached, it is Delta variant which is causing a whole lot of problem,” he added.