With Diwali around the corner, the new sub variant of Omicron have already been set to make its way to India, this Diwali.

With emergence of the omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, the pandemic course did not change but, the variant proved to be milder and less dangerous than the deadly delta virus with symptoms equal to that of common cold and flu.

The new sub variants of the virus, the Omicron BA 5.1.7 and BF 7 have emerged from inner Mongolian region of China and have already made its way in India, as the Gujrat Biotechnology Research Centre has detected one case with this new variant in Gujrat.

The new sub variants have been expected to be highly transmissible and infectious.

The experts have confirmed that the sub variants have tendency to surpass the antibodies present in the body which means, that they are tolerant to the vaccines and can cause infection in the body. Which makes the sub variant more dangerous than the prior ones.

The capital city, Delhi also witnessed a surge of COVID -19 cases   of 130 as dated on 18th October 2022 with the increase in positivity rate of 1.84 percent

The symptoms of Omicron BF 7 are same as that of the previous variants although, the body pain have been suspected to get severe as compared to before. Immediate medical consultation is necessary if, any symptoms related to the cold and flu are seen in the patients.

The civilians are advised to maintain the necessary precaution with respect to the infection, as the rules and regulations have been eased and country is preparing for the festive season, to celebrate Diwali.

“The next two to three weeks are crucial. Covid-19 is still around, and new variants are being reported in different parts of the world. Obviously, we cannot remain unscathed from them. So, we need to be careful as festivals are a few days ahead.”  Dr N.K. Arora, chairman, National Technical Advisory Group of Immunization (NTAGI) stated.

featured image source

Dipti Naik
Latest posts by Dipti Naik (see all)

Additional resources