Omicron fastest 'spreader' known to man: Maharashtra Task Force member

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Omicron, the latest Coronavirus variant, is probably the fastest-spreading infectious disease known to man, medical expert and Maharashtra government's Covid Task Force member, Shashank Joshi, said here on Thursday.

It has an approximately Rt5 rapid generation time. While for Measles it is 15 days, for Omicron it is less than 5, with a doubling time of 1.5-3 days, Joshi, a diabetologist and endocrinologist, said in a tweet.

"In 60 days after 1 case: Measles: 50,600, Omicron: 244,000,000," he added, but termed it as a "mild disease with lower mortality".

Mumbai scientist and stem-cell expert Pradeep Mahajan said that "Omicron is like a blessing that has emanated naturally to protect humanity", not only from Covid-19 and its other deadly variants, but even deadlier ones likely to come in the future.

"The faster Omicron is spreading, the less virulent killer it is, if we study the latest global health data. So there's absolutely no need for us to panic," said Mahajan, who was this week appointed as academic faculty at the prestigious Indiana University, USA, as an acknowledgement of his research in this field.

Also read: UK registers 1,06,122 new Covid-19 infections, highest since pandemic began

"Considering all aspects, we can safely say that Omicron will itself prove to be a nature's vaccine, a shield that will take us to a stage where Covid-19 and its variants could be reduced to something like a flu," Mahajan, Chairman of StemRX Biosiences Solutions Pvt Ltd, told IANS.

Meanwhile, as Maharashtra has reported a total of 65 Omicron cases so far, with the highest 30 in Mumbai, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has again geared up to tackle any health eventuality, particularly with festivities like Christmas and New Year round-the-corner.

The BMC has kept ready 13,835 beds for serious, moderate or complicated cases at various Corona care facilities in the city, 12,650 beds in different Corona care centres, along with 1,987 ICU beds, 1,158 ventilator beds, and 6,793 oxygen beds.

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