Bengaluru, Dec 3: National Communicable Disease Control Programme Advisor Naresh Purohit on Friday said the finding of the variant of concern, Omicron, in a local resident of Bengaluru with no travel history shows the new Covid variant could already be in circulation in the country and may have been only detected now.
"Mutation is a rule rather than an exception. Such mutations are bound to happen in many countries and not necessary that it has to be imported always.
"While nothing can be said now, this only indicates that the new variant could have emerged in Karnataka much earlier," Purohit told UNI.
Purohit said the World Health Organization warned that the risk posed by the heavily mutated variant was very high and as per WHO guidelines in Karnataka, samples that have a high viral load with a cycle threshold value of less than 15 are being sent for genome sequencing.
"That is how this medic, who does not have a travel history, has been picked up and detected to have been infected with the new variant," he said.
Purohit said the virus will continue to circulate, and mutate in the process, in areas with inadequate vaccine coverage.
The country is not going to be safe till everyone is protected and therefore, vaccination in states and regions with very low coverage should be a priority, he said.
"The effort should be to reach the unvaccinated and to fully vaccinate those who have had only their first shot.
"Omicron is one more reminder that the pandemic is not yet over and has not even taken a pause," Purohit said.
He added that all Covid-19 variants, including the dominant Delta variant, can cause severe disease or death, more so in the case of most vulnerable people.
Purohit emphasised that prevention continues to be the principal countermeasure and vaccine passport coupled with Covid appropriate behavior -- mask, ventilation, social distancing, hand hygiene are still best bets to keep the virus at bay.
He also said Omicron has exposed gaps in vaccination, despite the availability of vaccines in the country.
Many states in the country are yet to vaccinate their populations fully, while booster shots are being administered in some rich countries, he added.
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