China, US spike unlikely to have an effect: Doctors

KOLKATA: A year after the Omicron wave swept through Bengal with the number of daily new cases touching a high 8,712 in Kolkata and 24,287 in the state in early-January, experts said the chances of another wave leading to a spike in hospitalization were negligible.
"An Omicron-like wave or even a major spike that could lead to a spurt in hospitalization is next to impossible. The pandemic has now fizzled out and has become like any other form of influenza that does not require hospitalization. Most cases are undetected now and they won't lead to death unless the patient has severe comorbidities," said CMRI director of pulmonology Raja Dhar. He pointed out that the case surge in China and the US were unlikely to have an impact on the rest of the world. "While China has a zero-Covid policy and has been testing all with symptoms, the spurt in the US is unlikely to have resulted from a transmissible variant," Dhar said.
Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education & Research professor Diptendra Sarkar cited the minor surge that had occurred in July-August this year, saying it ultimately did not flare up like that in the earlier waves. "A pandemic usually loses its sting after the first two waves, which are usually long and result in fast transmission and deaths," said Sarkar, adding mutations invariably took the sting out of a virus after two waves and novel coronavirus was no exception. "There is virtually no possibility of the novel coronavirus making a comeback in a virulent form. It had been predicted that Covid would turn very mild, like any other form of influenza, and it has. Even the Omicron variant that struck a year ago was milder than the previous ones and caused far fewer deaths. It turned out to be fatal only for those with severe comorbidities," added Sarkar.
Based on the assessment of experts and the decline in Covid cases, most private hospitals have done away with Covid beds and none has more than three Covid patients admitted at present. A few have maintained isolation beds that are no longer exclusively used for Covid patients. Several government hospitals are continuing with Covid wards, though, following an instruction from the state health department last month.
RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences intensivist Sauren Panja agreed. "Omicron was the last potent variant that was far less fatal but affected almost the entire population due to its high transmission rate. But the subsequent mutants are no different from other viral infections that we come across. In fact, some of the latter are far more potent than Covid now. So, I don't think Covid beds or wards are needed now," said Panja.