Next few days will tell if Omicron or Delta led to surge, say experts

As parts of India start to see an uptick in Covid-19 cases, experts say it will take a few days to determine whether it's a resurgence of the Delta variant due to declining immunity or if Omicron, the new highly contagious variant first detected in South Africa, is spreading here.

"The next few days will answer this question. To understand the trend there's a need to intensify genome sequencing. However, in other countries Omicron has gradually gone up and become the dominant variant. It will behave no differently in India," said Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director, Max Healthcare.

Experts, however, believe that Omicron is set to become a dominant strain.


Covid-19 cases in Delhi reached a six-month high on Sunday at 107 cases. On Monday the national capital reported 91 Covid cases.

Doctors say that the next few days are crucial. With cases going up, many experts have called for booster jabs for healthcare workers. Some experts say Omicron is likely to spread.

"The current slight increase in the number of Covid-19 cases is likely due to (both) Delta and Omicron variants, but Omicron will quickly overshadow Delta. Considering this, there is an immediate need of boosters for vulnerable subsections of populations," said Anoop Misra, chairman, Fortis C-DOC, a Delhi-based hospital.

"Omicron is rapidly becoming the dominant strain globally. Past infections or vaccinations definitely decrease disease severity but may not be enough to check spread. It's time for N95 masks and avoiding large indoor gatherings," tweeted Ambrish Mithal, chairman, endocrinology and diabetes, Max Healthcare.

According to the Delhi government's Covid-19 bulletin the positivity rate in the capital city has gone up from 0.17% on Sunday to 0.20% on Monday. Six new Omicron cases have been detected in Delhi on Monday, taking the total number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus variant in the city to 28.

Delhi's chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said that samples of those testing positive will be sent for genome sequencing to detect the presence of Omicron.

India has so far detected 161 cases of Omicron cases in 12 states across India. On Monday India recorded 6,563 new Covid-19 cases and 132 deaths in the last 24 hours.

"It (Omicron) will definitely spread, mostly from now onwards but mostly around January. The adversity of the impact will be felt in areas with poor vaccination coverage and poor surveillance. These are the areas which are more likely to have poor health system response as well," said Giridhara Babu, a senior epidemiologist.