Doctors recommend social distancing during Christmas and New Year celebrations amid Omicron scare
Jaipur, 23 December 2021: With the number of Omicron cases seeing a rapid increase in our country and across the globe, it seems like we're experiencing a deja-vu. With Christmas and New Year round the corner, most people have planned outings and parties to celebrate. The get-togethers can aggravate the spread of Covid 19. There is the need for all of us to be more careful and follow covid appropriate behavior.
Dr. Pankaj Anand, Senior Consultant, Critical Care & Internal Medicine, Fortis Escorts Jaipur said, " It's just a matter of time that all of us are going to be exposed to the Omicron variant. Whether you are vaccinated or not, I think we have crossed the stage where we could expect people to be strictly following the same rules as they had been doing so far. While people need to follow their occupations to support the economy while carrying their daily activities. Considering Omicron is 10 times more contagious than Delta, it is unlikely that anyone will be spared from contracting the virus."
With the recent cases of omicron being reported, we know that the threat with Omicron is that it is parenting with a different set of symptoms than what delta did and is causing milder infection as compared to the previous strains. Dr. Anand adds, "The challenge with omicron variant is its higher infectivity ratio, the challenge would be that Omicron would be infecting a lot of people at the same time who might need hospitalization and, that is where the challenge lies. We might have an overburdened healthcare system leading to failure and a lot of morbidity and mortality."
Speaking of Rajasthan, Dr Anand pointed out the negligence of the people here, "A lot of people haven't got vaccinated yet. Omicron cases have almost doubled. The next 2-3 weeks are very crucial for all of us. People need to take precautions and try and stay indoors as much possible."
Dr Ankit Bansal, Consultant, Pulmonology & Critical Care, Fortis Escorts Jaipur suggests that all of us should keep our guards high for the coming 2-3 months. He adds, "Omicron is affecting people. We have noticed earlier that there have been just three weapons against Covid - social distancing, mask and sanitization that worked and have kept us protected from the infection. Even the vaccination has played its part in protecting the people. With Christmas and New Year coming up, there will be lots of travelling along with many events in which there could be mass-gathering. I would request everyone to avoid these gatherings because these could be a source of infection and, we might be welcoming our new year with a new strain of the virus. We're nearly towards the latter part of the pandemic, and we'll get many Christmas and New Year to celebrate with our families, so attend a gathering only if it's necessary."
Dr Anand further suggests ways to prevent yourself from getting a serious disease, "There are just two ways - one is to get yourself a booster dose, which is not available to our population, even to the healthcare workers at the moment. The second is, try to boost or at least keep your immunity as high as possible, so take enough nutritional food, avoid intoxications, take enough sleep, maintain your Vitamin-C, D levels. If you have any chronic ailments such as diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease or even cancer - you need to be extremely cautious. Wear your masks, avoid over-socializing, go to public places only if necessary."
Speaking of what lies ahead for us in 2022, Dr Anand asserts, "I believe that Covid is going to become an endemic, the way common cold has been with us. Every year we might get a new strain, but it is probably going to be as mild as the common cold. Slowly and gradually, we will stop talking about it and get used to living with it."
About Fortis Healthcare Limited
“Fortis Healthcare Limited – an IHH Healthcare Berhad Company – is a leading integrated healthcare services provider in India. It is one of the largest healthcare organisations in the country with 36 healthcare facilities (including projects under development), 4000 operational beds and over 400 diagnostics centres (including JVs). Fortis is present in India, United Arab Emirates (UAE) & Sri Lanka. The Company is listed on the BSE Ltd and National Stock Exchange (NSE) of India. It draws strength from its partnership with global major and parent company, IHH, to build upon its culture of world-class patient care and superlative clinical excellence. Fortis employs 23,000 people (including SRL) who share its vision of becoming the world’s most trusted healthcare network. Fortis offers a full spectrum of integrated healthcare services ranging from clinics to quaternary care facilities and a wide range of ancillary services.”