To stop Omicron from becoming another Delta, vaccines and protocols become utmost important

The unending restrictions are back again as the newest and potentially the most contagious strain of the Coronavirus — Omicron — has caused panic across countries and made them cautious about resuming international travel. While a bunch of countries have detected cases of Omicron, rest have their fingers crossed. The Government has, therefore, issued new guidelines and identified about a dozen “at risk” countries — the UK, South Africa, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong, Israel and entire Europe. This comes as a disappointment both to the economy and citizens as international travel was restarted just a few days ago after a hiatus of 20 months. Now passengers travelling from “at risk” countries will have to provide their travel history for the last 14 days and undergo an RT-PCR test on arrival. The findings on the new variant are not much but are enough to invoke fears of a possible third wave which was seemingly avoided. 

Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said that “no case of Omicron has been found in India so far”, however, Omicron could possibly have entered the Indian borders already. India recorded 6,990 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest in 551 days, on Tuesday; but now is not the time to relax. In fact, the discovery of the mysterious new strain gives all reasons to worry and, more importantly, to follow the protocols that have been successfully dodged so far. In light of the new variant, the Government has extended COVID-19 measures till December 31. Therefore, while scientists figure out Omicron’s risk and transmissibility, the public should refrain from heedless travel and diligently follow COVID appropriate behaviour. In order to stop Omicron from becoming another Delta, which wreaked sheer havoc during the second wave, people must realise the danger. However, there are certain factors that can make things go south pretty quickly: our careless tendency towards COVID-19, this being the high time for weddings and festivities and, of course, only about 40 per cent of the population being fully inoculated so far. Therefore, vaccination becomes of utmost importance and the unvaccinated have a good reason to shed hesitancy and get jabbed. The mistake of taking it lightly caused heavy losses last time and whether we allow it to happen again depends significantly on our behaviour.