Omicron could be behind Delhi's Covid cases spike; Feb, March ‘convenient’ for virus: AIIMS professor

Community medicine professor Sanjay Rai said that viruses cannot withstand extreme temperatures, thus one that is between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius, is ideal for them to thrive.

After Delhi reported the biggest single-day jump in Covid-19 cases in six months on Sunday, a medicine expert from New Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) said the spike could be due to the Omicron variant, news agency ANI reported.

Delhi on Sunday logged the biggest single-day jump in Covid-19 cases in six months, with 107 infections. (PTI PHOTO.)

Sanjay Rai, a community medicine professor at AIIMS, said Omicron's infectivity is “very high” and pointed out that when the variant reaches a vulnerable population, it will “rise and fall quickly” similar to the situation during the second wave of the pandemic in India.

Rai said though extreme temperature makes it hard for any microorganism to spread, exposure to cold leads to the weakening of a person's immunity, thereby making them vulnerable to the virus.

“The best temperature for viruses is between 20 and 30 degrees…So, September, October, November, February and March would be more convenient for the virus,” the medical expert was quoted as saying by ANI.

Delhi on Sunday logged as many as 107 new Covid-19 cases, even as the city continued to steadily witness a spike in the single-day infections. Moreover, a fresh death was also recorded after a gap of 10 days—the last one was reported on December 8.

The city on Sunday also recorded the coldest winter day of the season so far after the mercury dipped to 4.6 degrees Celsius in the Safdarjung Observatory. The temperature in Lodhi Road was recorded at 3.6 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, India's Omicron tally climbed to 154, after Maharashtra and Gujarat reported fresh infections. Maharashtra and Delhi with 54 and 22 cases, respectively, account for the most number of Omicron cases of Covid-19 variant in the country.

To tackle the rising cases of the new ‘variant of concern’, the Delhi government on Saturday converted four private hospitals—Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Max Hospital in Saket, Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj and Batra Hospital in Tughlakabad—as dedicated centres. Along with Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) Hospital, the national capital now has five dedicated Omicron centres.