Omicron is behaving very mildly and rarely affecting newborn babies, says health expert

Omicron is behaving very mildly and rarely affecting newborn babies, a senior doctor at Max Smart Super Specialty Hospital, Saket said on Monday.

India has been witnessing a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases for the past few weeks. Taking cognisance of this information, Chief Advisor, Paediatrics and Infectious Diseases, Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, Dr. Arvind Taneja toldtoday, "This virus is behaving very mildly and rarely affecting newborn babies to the extent that, even mothers who have given birth during this period are not affected. The babies are not born with any defects or abnormalities."

"This virus is affecting children mildly. Mildly here means that they are getting a mild running nose, cough. In a few cases, high fever was reported but that does translate to the Omicron effect. If any person in the family is detected positive for COVID-19, they should home-quarantine themselves. That is the only precaution to take at the moment to curtail the spread of the virus," he said.

Taneja said, "I believe that once the virus comes into the home, it spreads like wildfire. The third wave has already hit Delhi and major metropolises like Mumbai. Within a few weeks in January, the Omicron driven third wave will come like a Tsunami and will also disappear like a Tsunami."

The doctor also lauded the Prime Minister's decision to roll out precautionary dose of COVID-19 vaccine for people aged above 60 years and vaccines for teens between 15-18 years of age. He said, "It is better to immunise this age group to reduce transmissibility. Senior citizens fall under the category of high-risk groups. Every healthcare, frontline worker, senior citizen and teens between 15-18 years of age should be fully vaccinated."

The COVID-19 vaccination program for children aged between 15 and 18 years has been started on January 3, 2022.

India achieved a milestone in its COVID-19 vaccination drive as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 150 crore mark on Friday.

India is currently witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases and reported 1,79,723 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 13.29 per cent, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Monday.

A total of 4,033 cases of the Omicron variant of Coronavirus have been reported so far. Maharashtra has reported the highest number of cases (1,216), followed by Rajasthan (529) and Delhi (513).

About 1,552 patients infected with Omicron have recovered.

The Ministry further informed that the active caseload in the country currently stands at 7,23,619 which accounts for 2.03 per cent of the country's total number of cases. The weekly positivity rate currently is at 7.29 per cent, while the daily positivity rate stands at 13.29 per cent.

Total cases of COVID-19 in the country have risen to 35,528,004, the health ministry said today morning. As many as 46,569 patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours. The cumulative tally of COVID recovered patients now stands at 3,45,00,172. The recovery rate is at 96.62 per cent.

The country also reported 146 new deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 4,83,936. India conducted 13,52,717 COVID-19 tests in the last 24 hours. The country has conducted 69,15,75,352 tests so far, as per the Indian Council of Medical Research data.

( With inputs from ANI )

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