Omicron is here

“But Omicron is mild”, people said when we asked them to take extra precautions. They went to crowded parties. Ate and drank, danced and sang. Maskless.

One by one they are now testing positive. The symptoms are relatively mild, but….

It is not just the ones who didn’t follow COVID protocols who are falling ill. Others are getting infected too. Co-workers, people they car pooled with, the acquaintance they met over coffee.

Delivery guys are dropping the virus off along with parcels.

The number of people testing positive is doubling faster than ever before. Though the percentage of people needing hospitalization is low, absolute numbers are high.

Worse of all, doctors, nurses and path lab technicians are testing positive. Which reduces hospital capacity.

“But if it is so contagious, we will all anyway get infected.”

Yes, but what matters is not the gross number of people infected. What matters is that at any time the number be kept low, so there is adequate medical infrastructure.

For that, we need to take precautions.

Stay home wherever possible.

If going out is unavoidable, wear a N-95 mask properly, and keep it on at all times.

Avoid crowded places, closes spaces, close contact.

If you have symptoms, isolate and test.

If positive, isolate and tell people you came in contact with to test.

“Even people who are double vaccinated get infected. Why should I take the vaccine?”

Even if it doesn’t offer full protection, taking a vaccine is better than not being vaccinated. Take whichever vaccine is available- all protect to some extent.

Keep children, particularly unvaccinated children, away from school if possible.

“If kids can go to malls, they can certainly go to school”, is a ridiculous argument, though one often made. It is precisely because some kids are going to malls that we need to keep the others extra safe.

Last out the next few weeks. If we can flatten the curve by taking reasonable precautions, hopefully we will not run out of beds, oxygen or medical care.

Let’s not take Covid lightly. Even mild symptoms can be pretty bad, and we don’t want to risk long Covid.

Stay safe.