Omicron symptoms mild but spike in cases can create trouble: Dr Fayaz

JAMMU, JANUARY 14:  While it took 25 days for daily cases to rise from 100 to 1000, during the second wave of Covid-19, the numbers have more than doubled in just 15 weeks in the third wave. Roughly double the number of cases are being recorded in half the time in the present Omicron wave’.

Professor Department of Medicine, Government Medical College Jammu, Dr. Fayaz Ahmad Wani has warned that the high infectivity rate of the coronavirus during the present wave should not be taken lightly. Although the symptoms are mostly mild in appearance, the sheer number of infected is a major concern nonetheless, he highlighted.

Dr Wani advised everybody to keep observing Covid appropriate behaviour, maintain social distancing and avoid unnecessary public gatherings. He suggests that senior citizens, comorbid patients and those with severe health conditions need to take extra precaution and take a healthy diet.

The Professor also assured that the Covid hospitalisation rate is only around 5 to 10 percent, which is less as compared to 20-23 percent recorded during the second coronavirus wave. He warned that the rate might even increase owing to the sudden rise in positive cases as hospitalisation is usually required a week post infection.

For asymptomatic patients and people in isolation, Dr Wani said that such persons must contact the doctor if they feel breathlessness, chest pain, have their breath rate exceeding 24 or if they feel a sense of confusion. Any such unusual development must be intimated to the doctor and medical help be sought, he advised.

The doctor has also urged all eligible persons to get vaccinated and practise hand hygiene and frequent hand sanitisation.