THE Omicron variant of the coronavirus remains the dominant strain in Bahrain and could be lethal, despite the fewer cases of hospitalisations and intensive care in the country, a top medic has said.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is not over yet and citizens and residents should not let their guards down,” National Taskforce to Combat Covid-19 monitoring committee head Lieutenant Colonel Dr Manaf Al Qahtani pointed out.
The warning comes as citizens and residents mark the holy month of Ramadan from today. Family gatherings have led to a spike in infections during festivals over the last two years.
“The virus is still dangerous, it is still there, and people should be very careful and take all precautionary measures,” Dr Al Qahtani told the GDN.
The world has been grappling with a dramatic spike in Covid-19 over the last few months following the emergence of the Omicron variant. Omicron – one of the most infectious Covid-19 variants yet – is a family of three strains BA.1, BA1.1 and BA.2 and the latest subvariant, BA2, is believed to be responsible for the surge.
“Let us not focus on the milder or minimum symptoms, or whether a variant is less severe or otherwise,” the medic said.
“Just focus on two things: Get vaccinated and get booster shots and leave the rest to the medical team. We have seen Omicron in certain people in its severest form – so the notion of it being mild should be completely removed.”
Speaking to the GDN on the sidelines of the Harvard International Symposium on Covid-19 themed ‘Learning from the Pandemic for the Future of Health’ held at the Wyndham Grand Hotel, Manama this weekend, he noted that the present restriction-free situation in Bahrain was the result of ‘two years of hard work’.
“I still see people wearing masks in this country, which shows their responsibility and we need to do this because the world is connected and once we reach a stage where we feel the whole world is safe, then it is time again to celebrate,” he said.
Lt Col Dr Al Qahtani – in his presentation at the high-profile forum organised by International Centre for Genetic Disease, in co-ordination with Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Harvard School and Health Ministry-Bahrain – cited local data to prove that higher vaccination rates led to lower hospitalisations with the Omicron variant in the country.
“We have had high number of cases (Omicron) but the lowest hospitalisation and this is because most of the population have been vaccinated,” he said. “The same goes with ICU admissions, you see the lowest when it comes to Omicron, while most of the ICU cases are now infected with the BA2, and yet the numbers are the lowest, when compared with Delta.
“Look at the deaths – we would expect it to be much higher with Omicron (with the surge) yet, the highest deaths were during Delta, again because the percentage of people vaccinated at that time (Delta) was only 25 per cent.
“Today we have BA2 and we have the lowest rate of mortality – it’s perhaps not only the vaccine, part of it could be herd immunity, part from multiple interventions, testing and tracing which have all added to the health of the society.”
Bahrain’s medical team analysed 7,124 samples of Omicron variants in the country from December until March (30). In December all of 1,395 cases were from the original Omicron variant, while in January 1,952 infections were linked to the sub lineage BA1 and 175 to the currently globally predominant BA2.
In February, the BA2 strain was traced in 913 cases, the highest that month. Last month, until Wednesday, 1,687 people were infected with the BA2 strain.
A total of 589 critical cases were studied from January to March of which 74pc (434) were infected with the BA2 variant, 7pc (42) with the original Omicron, 7pc (43) with BA1.1 and 10pc (59) with BA1. The remaining 11, accounting for 2pc, were affected by Delta and its sub lineages.
“Omicron is lethal and can be very severe in those who are most vulnerable, especially in the high-risk group,” Dr Al Qahtani said, calling on people to be vigilant.
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