Delta Plus Omicron Are Driving COVID Surge Now, Know Symptoms, Mortality Rate

Even as the world is reeling under the threat of 'Omicron', there's talk about a "fresh variant" that is causing the surge in Covid-19 cases across the west. A ¡®Delmicron¡¯ surge is being blamed for the explosion of cases in United States and Europe, dulling the hopes of a pandemic-free 2022.

Delmicron isn¡¯t a new variant of COVID-19 , but as Dr Shashank Joshi, member of Maharashtra's task force on COVID-19 explains, it is the combination of the twin spikes of Delta and Omicron, which has run over Europe and the US.

He went on to say that it is to be observed how Omicron would react in India, where the Delta strain is widely exposed. Joshi highlighted Delta derivatives, which are descendants of the delta, are now the most common form in India and also emphasised that in other regions of the globe, Omicron is fast replacing deltas.

Reuters

Let's understand more about the fresh variant.

Delmicron explained

Delmicron is the double variant of COVID-19 that is spreading increasingly in the West. This name has been derived by combining coronavirus ' Delta variant and the Omicron variant because at present these both variants are being found all over the world, including India.

As we know, both the US and UK are currently battling a tsunami of COVID-19 cases. In the US, the data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown that the rapidly spreading Omicron variant is now the dominant COVID-19 strain, representing 73 percent of sequenced cases.

BCCL

Variant has hit the west

The CDC estimates it makes up more than 90 percent of cases in portions of the Northwest, South, Southeast, and Northeast. These numbers clearly show that the US is battling a combination of the Delta and Omicron variants, and they have ramped up testing and vaccinations ¡ª with booster doses ¡ª to battle this raging wildfire.

In Britain too, the situation seems to be the same. The United Kingdom on Wednesday reported 1,06,122 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. This incidentally is the first time that the daily figure has topped 1,00,000. As of Tuesday, a total of 13 people had already passed away due to the Omicron variant in Britain.

Reuters

So, how different is Omicron from Delmicron?

Omicron is a highly mutated B.1.1.529 form of SARS-CoV-2, which was first discovered in South Africa. This variant spread faster and is currently showing milder symptoms than Delta. The mortality rate is even lower than the Delta variant, while Delmicron is the result of combining Delta and Omicron which is basically the twin spike of the variants.

Symptoms of Delmicron

Very simply put as it is a nomenclature created by merging the Delta and Omicron versions of coronavirus , there are no different symptoms.

Those suffering from the Omicron or Delta variant, more or less complain of the same symptoms:

? a high temperature

? a persistent cough

? a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste

? headache

? runny nose

? sore throat

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Studies have shown that both the Delta and Omicron variants are easily transmissible.

In fact, UK government scientists in a study said that Britons who fall ill with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus are less likely to become severely sick than those who contract Delta.

Where does India stand?

India has recorded 236 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus across 16 states and UTs so far out of which 104 people have recovered or migrated, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. Maharashtra has recorded the maximum 65 cases of the Omicron variant, followed by Delhi at 64, Telangana 24, Karnataka 19, Rajasthan 21 and Kerala 15. The ministry data u also showed that India recorded 7,495 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of cases to 3,47,65,976, while the active cases increased to 78,291. The death toll has climbed to 4,78,759 with 434 fresh fatalities, the data stated.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been recorded below 15,000 for the last 56 days now. The active cases comprise 0.23 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate has further improved to 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.

UN News

An increase of 101 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. India¡¯s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of two crore on May 4 and three crore on June 23.

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