Monsterizing Omicron

Raju Korti
I have been watching with mild amusement all the hype and hoopla surrounding the new Covid variant called Omicron. Supposed to have originated in South Africa, it has already started making people paranoiac knowing next to nothing about it.

For all those pressing panic buttons and jumping the gun on the new enigma, there is little research available yet. It is highly presumptuous to declare something that is highly virulent as downright fatal. It is nitwittedness to create fear-mongering when an ignorant majority is fed with such baseless tripe when there is little to show -- so far -- that Omicron being highly contagious is also a confirmed killer. In line with its preposterous approach on the Covid mutations, the World Health Organization (WHO) has taken a lead in spreading this panic. There is a difference between cautioning people and putting a fear of death in them.

Admittedly, reports have it that the new variant has been spreading alarmingly in South Africa with over 10,000 cases but the WHO concerns are only in the realms of conjecture. It is clueless, at least as of now, whether Omicron is more transmissible or causes more severe health issues compared to other variants including the Delta. There is currently no information to suggest that symptoms associated with Omicron are different from other variants.       

The advent of Covid 22 months back seems to have spawned a new breed of experts whose opinions and surmises are at times diametrically opposite and sometimes bordering on hope. The world need neither. What it needs is authentic study and research beyond specious assumptions since Covid mutations have not followed the beaten path. It is irrational and absurd to draw conclusions when you are dealing with an unknown enemy.

The rising cases in South Africa could be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected rather than a result of a specific infection of Omicron. Understanding the severity of Omicron infection may take weeks. By WHO's own admission, there have been no reported deaths due to Omicron since it was detected in the second week of November.

So stop this morbidity. Beware of those bored with life. They will find mutations of excuses for not living. There are bigger killers around us that we have braved than to lose sleep over Omicron.

By the way, the word 'monsterizing' is my own creation.