Everyone Will Get Omicron, Actual Numbers Up To 90 Times More
India: The Omicron variant of Covid-19 is “almost unstoppable” and everyone will eventually be infected with it, a top government expert told NDTV. He claimed that reported infection numbers are “nowhere close to the truth” as actual numbers could be up to 90 times more than reported for Omicron infections.
Stressing that Covid is “not a frightening disease anymore” as the new strain is milder and is leading to much less hospitalisation, he said that it’s a disease we can deal with. ”… we are dealing with quite a different virus. It’s much milder than Delta, as you all know, not only that, it is practically unstoppable,” he said, adding that Omicron presents itself just like the cold.
“A majority of us will not know we have been infected, probably more than 80% will not even know when we have it,” said Dr. Jaiprakash Muliyil, epidemiologist and chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Epidemiology at the Indian Council of Medical Research.
On how experts will be able to gauge the true extent of Omicron without more tests, he said that “we have learned to live with it” as even during the second wave caused by the Delta variant they “always multiplied the number of cases picked up by about 30 to get the real number” as subclinical numbers don’t get noticed by anyone, including the person who has been infected.
For Omicron, he said that even though it’s “guesswork” but we are only detecting one in 60 to 90 actual cases as subclinical cases have also significantly gone up.
