Surge will be so fast, warns WHO expert Soumya Swaminathan

WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said. "The surge is going to be very fast and many people are going to be sick," she warned with the new variant of concern already driving up cases across the world. The Omicron outbreak, which has triggered fresh concerns globally and raised an alarm, will see the burden shift from hospitals to the out-patients department, from ICUs to home-based care, Dr Swaminathan said. "The whole burden of this outbreak will be more on out-patients and home-based services rather than ICU and hospital beds for severely ill.", she said in a tweet.

Hospitalizations are also rising, mostly in unvaccinated people. Though #Omicron may cause less severe disease, a small % of a huge number is still very large & can overwhelm health systems.
Kudos to health workers around the world for two years of service! https://t.co/rP2ztb9itv

— Soumya Swaminathan (@doctorsoumya) December 31, 2021

The health ministry observed that though the number of Covid infections is increasing rapidly, the fatality rate is stable. This may be because of India's extensive vaccine coverage or the nature of the new variant or both.