There is the Delta variant, then there is the Omicron variant of coronavirus and now, there’s Delmicron. Confused about what Delmicron is? Are you worried that there’s a new variant waiting to wreak havoc?
Well, that’s not exactly the case.
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.
Want to know more? Then read on.
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.
Omicron has displaced the previously dominant Delta variant, which the CDC says is now an estimated 26.6 percent of sequenced cases for the week ending 18 December. Just one week earlier, Delta made up 87 percent of cases to Omicron’s 12.6 percent, the data shows.
In some parts of the country, the share of Omicron cases is higher than the nationwide figure of 73 percent. 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 — with booster doses — 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.
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
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.
Delmicron in India
In a Times of India report, Dr Shashank Joshi said that it was yet to be seen how the Omicron variant would behave in India where there is widespread ‘exposure’ to the Delta variant.
Top virologist Dr Shahid Jameel also believes that Omicron variant of Covid-19 will not affect India as badly as Delta did.
Speaking to the media, Jameel, a visiting scientist at Ashoka University, said, “Both in terms of numbers of, you know, the vaccination percentage as well as exposure to the virus. India has had a very, very bad second wave. And because of that, the blessing in disguise is that many of us got exposed to the virus.”
With inputs from agencies
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