Extreme caution, warns Kolkata doctor as Bengal records 1st Omicron case
The Hindu
The seven-year-old boy from Murshidabad recently returned home with his parents from Abu Dhabi via Hyderabad and Kolkata
A Kolkata doctor, who has been highly vocal in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic has called for “extreme caution” after West Bengal reported its on Wednesday.
“After several States reported Omicron cases, West Bengal also reported the first case of this COVID-19 variant of concern. Conclusive scientific evidences are yet to emerge regarding its virulence, transmissibility, severity of illness and clinical outcome, even though initial reports suggest that although transmissibility is higher compared to other variants, the severity of illness is low. However, in the light of what the Delta variant had created, we all should tread with extreme caution,” Dr. Koushik Chaki, a founding member of the West Bengal Doctors’ Forum, told The Hindu.
“All concerned with healthcare management must proactively engage to enhance surveillance, sequencing and other measures to better understand if Omicron has different transmission or disease characteristics, or impacts the effectiveness of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics,” he stated.