Omicron Transmitting In Community, Dominant Strain In Metro Cities: Centre

New Delhi: The expert committee (INSACOG) which studies various strains of SARS-CoV-2 and their genome sequencing has concluded that Omicron, the variant driving the third wave of the pandemic, is in the community transmission stage in India and has become the dominant strain in multiple metros.

The observation was made early this month in its latest bulletin of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics or Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genetics Consortium or INSACOG.

“Omicron is now in community transmission in India and has become dominant in multiple metros, where new cases have been rising exponentially. BA.2 lineage is in a substantial fraction in India and S gene dropout based screening is thus likely to give high false negatives,” it said.

While most Omicron cases so far have been asymptomatic or mild, hospitalisations and ICU cases have been increasing in the current wave. The threat level remains unchanged, the expert added.

Several states earlier said that Omicron was spreading in the community as patients without foreign travel history, without being a contact of anyone who has travelled abroad contracted the Omicron variant.

Omicron, the variant first detected in South Africa on November 24 last year, is driving the third wave of the pandemic in the country. It has emerged as the dominant variant, replacing Delta, the variant which drove the second wave of the pandemic in India. In metro cities, Omicromn has already become the dominant strain, while in districts it is on its way to replacing Delta.

The first few cases of Omicron in the country reported in December 2021 were among foreign travellers. Within weeks, Omicron spread rapidly indicating that the variant is not anymore confined within the person-to-person transmission, but has spread in the community.