New Delhi: India has 358 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant so far. An analysis of 183 cases has shown that nearly 70% of the patients were totally asymptomatic while 30% had mild symptoms.
However, the Omicron strain may be highly capable of causing breakthrough infections as the majority of the patients, who had got infected with the variant, were fully vaccinated.
The data shared by the Union health ministry on Friday in a press briefing on the COVID-19 response showed out of the 358 cases of the highly transmissible variant, 61% of the 183 cases studied were males, 121 had a history of international travel abroad while 44 others were mostly their contacts and the details were not yet fully established in the case of 18 others.
Of the analyzed cases, 87 were fully vaccinated with 3 having received 3 doses each in countries where booster COVID-19 doses are being administered, 2 were partially vaccinated and 7 had not received any dose against the infection. In this group, the vaccination details of 73 people were unknown while 16 with confirmed infection were not yet eligible to receive the COVID-19 shots.
According to Balram Bhargava, Director-General of the ICMR, the evidence so far suggests that infection with Omicron does not necessarily mean severe clinical disease or symptoms.
“Therefore, the line of treatment of Omicron infected individuals remains the same, as is the case with other COVID virus variants,” he said, also urging people and states not to lower their guard.