OVER AT LAST?

THE MILDER OMICRON VARIANT RAISES HOPE THAT WE CAN PERHAPS TAME THE PANDEMIC. IT IS THE UNVACCINATED WHO MAY USHER IN A FRESH WAVE

- Sonali Acharjee

As India reported 10,273 new cases and a positivity rate of 1 per cent on February 27 compared to 347,254 cases and a positivity rate of 17.94 per cent on January 21, the question drifted up to the surface again: Are we finally seeing the last of the Covid-19 pandemic?

The deadly spread of the Delta variant last year taught the world not to hazard a definitive answer to that question too soon. But now the milder Omicron strain is lulling us into complacency. Dare we hope things are different this time?

For one, compared to the seven months the first wave took to subside, and the six months for the second to end, despite extensive lockdowns during both, the third wave has seen an ebb in a matter of weeks after its initial spike in infections. The average number of daily deaths too was half that. The severity of the disease Omicron caused was also comparatively mild, and nothing that the country’s healthcare system could not handle.