Should we worry about the new Covid variant, Omicron?

New Delhi, Dec 01: After two cases of Omicron variant found in India, Dr Naresh Trehan, chairman, and managing director, Medanta Heart Institute, on Thursday said infectivity and virulence are the two factors to be worried about the new variant.

Giving further details, Dr. Naresh Trehan said,''There are 2 parts to the virus to worry about-infectivity & virulence. The R0 factor may be 12-18 times or even higher. It means it could be a very devastating spread. Right now, we don't know the exact details of it.''

Dr Trehan said,''There's nothing to suggest it's going to be okay & nothing to suggest it's going to be devastating. All we know is that we're in very tricky situation as they found this new variant which has 30 plus variants on the spike protein & over 50 variants in the whole structure.''

''We don't know how will it behave but if you look at the preliminary data from South Africa, it says that in one day, number of cases can double. It's a fact which is putting the whole world on alert. We should be alert but not panic. Vaccination is important,''Dr Trehan further said.

The development comes at a time when the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare earlier in the day said that two cases of new Omicron variant have been detected in Karnataka.