Omicron 'ray of light' amid pandemic? Here is what an expert says

A government scientific adviser, Dr Mike Tildesley, from the University of Warwick has termed the Omicron variant as "the first ray of light” amid the pandemic. The member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M) said that there might hopefully be a shift in the pandemic by spring. As per the adviser, Omicron can be seen as an indication of less severe variants in the future.

While speaking to the Times Radio, he said, "The thing that might happen in the future is you may see the emergence of a new variant that is less severe, and ultimately, in the long term, what happens is Covid becomes endemic and you have a less severe version. It’s very similar to the common cold that we’ve lived with for many years."

He further added, "We’re not quite there yet but possibly Omicron is the first ray of light there that suggests that may happen in the longer term. It is, of course, much more transmissible than Delta was, which is concerning, but much less severe."

Also read | Omicron more infectious than Delta? Experts reveal why the variant is affecting kids

On the other hand, a report by Forbes states that the early data suggests that the Omicron variant could be up to 3 times more infectious than delta and children being more vulnerable to infection. 

This comes in at a time when hospitalisation rates among children are soaring unprecedently.

According to the latest CDC data, an average of 672 children were admitted to hospitals due to Covid each day last week. This has become a worrying trend among the experts and they believe that the hospitalisations are triggered by low vaccination rates and the very easily transmissible omicron variant. 

(With inputs from agencies)