Learn to live with SARS-CoV-2 as its variants will continue to emerge: Kang

'I believe we should be sending children to school, as generally COVID-19 infections are not much severe in children,' says the virologist

Suggesting people to learn to live with SARS-CoV-2 and its variants which will continue to emerge, virologist Dr Gagandeep Kang, however, on Friday said that the Omicron variant of coronavirus is comparatively less severe than other variants. Speaking to ANI here today, Dr Kang said, "We will have to learn to live with SARS-CoV-2 and its variants which will continue to emerge. There will be many waves, time and again. But fortunately, Omicron seems comparatively less severe than other variants."

"I believe we should be sending children to school, as generally COVID-19 infections are not much severe in children. Data available to inform a decision as to which vaccine should be used as a booster dose in India is very little," she added. Meanwhile, India reported 16,764 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, a surge for the third consecutive day which has pushed the country's coronavirus tally to 34,838,804 on Friday.

The Health Ministry had earlier in the day stated that the total cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 cases have gone up to 1,270 with Maharashtra and Delhi reporting 450 and 320 cases respectively, according to the Union health ministry. The health ministry informed that the active caseload in the country stands at 91,361 constituting 0.26 per cent of the total cases.

With this, the country's COVID-19 tally has risen to 34,838,804 and with 220 deaths reported over the past 24 hours, the death toll has mounted to 481,080.