Covid Appropriate Behaviour Can Keep Omicron Subvariant BF.7 At Bay

Bhubaneswar:1/1/23: Amid panicky over the severity of Omicron subvariant BF.7 cases in some other countries, which has been driving the surge in China these days, Covid-19 appropriate behaviour is an ideal way to keep the deadly virus at bay, noted physician and former Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) CBK Mohanty said today.

“There is nothing to panicky about, but we all must adhere to the Covid safety protocols. Preparedness will certainly help curb any spread of the viral infection. The mutation is a natural process and new strains will always appear before us in the future. In the past days, Alfa, Beta, Gamma and Delta viruses including Omicron have proved to be harmful in many countries. Similarly, the Epsilon variant in California and Lambda variant in Peru had created havoc for a few months. However, the viral infections did not spread to other parts of the world. Recently, it has been noticed that the Omicron subvariant BF.7 has not yet spread to all the 14 bordering countries of China and six countries have zero incidences. It is very difficult to predict so early that the new strain may spread to India,” the former DMET asserted.

Some of the Covid variants have seemingly behaved in different manners in human hosts, as compared to their behaviour in laboratory conditions. The first case of Omicron subvariant BF.7 was detected in India on September 30, this year. It did not spread further and did not aggravate the situation. The test positivity rate (TPR) in Odisha is only 0.4 percent at present. Since the beginning of November, the daily caseload in two digits was reported only on two days. Active cases of Covid-19 in Odisha as of date is 41, against a total population of 4.40 crore in the State, the former DMET Mohanty expressed.