Covid: Omicron variant may be less lethal in India, says epidemiologist

India saw the world's fastest-surging Covid outbreak in early-May with daily new infections exceeding 400,000 when the highly-infectious delta variant was ripping through the crowded nation

The newly-emerged omicron variant is likely to be less lethal in India than the delta-led virus wave that overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums earlier this year, according to a prominent epidemiologist.
 

Given the widespread exposure of Indians to Covid-19 virus and a reasonably-high vaccination rate, India will likely be less affected by the new strain, Ramanan Laxminarayan, director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday. That may change if omicron is effective at getting past all immune defenses, he said.

As omicron -- first detected in South Africa late last month