Omicron nothing more than 'seasonal cold virus': US-based doctor

New York, Dec 30 The fast-spreading Omicron variant is "nothing more than a seasonal cold virus" and there is little we can do to stop this virus from infecting people, claims a US-based doctor.

Afshine Emrani, MD, who holds a Fellowship in the American College of Cardiology (FACC) from the US, said that people who are vaccinated have a much lower chance of dying or getting hospitalised. But there is little it can be done to stop this virus from infecting over 80 per cent of the population, he said.

"Masks, vaccine card mandates will make no difference," Emrani said in a tweet.

"Vaccinated people still get infected and pass the virus to others," he added.

He also mentioned that soon the US will have two million positive cases a day for weeks, after which the numbers will drop dramatically.

"The biggest threat in my opinion remains in over-reaction and over-reach by government agencies, causing panic, providing misinformation, leading to closures that hurt those most vulnerable among us," Emrani said.

Meanwhile, a team of experts in Singapore has warned that the Omicron variant is likely to soon replace the Delta strain globally, as countries after countries have reported a record surge in Covid cases.

The warning comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has cautioned that the more transmissible Omicron together with the currently circulating Delta variants might lead to "a tsunami of cases," putting immense pressure on national health systems.

In India, the Omicron infection tally has climbed to 961, of which 320 patients have been discharged from hospitals.

A Covid-19 tracker, developed by the UK's University of Cambridge, has predicted that India may soon see an intense but short-lived virus wave "within days", even as the highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid is spreading like wildfire in the country.