As the year is coming to an end and COVID-19 cases are on the rise across the country people should take precautions rather than the government imposing restrictions, said Dr Rajath Athreya, senior consultant and HOD paediatrics and neonatology, Sakra World Hospital, Bengaluru. A member of the Karnataka government’s Covid-19 Technical Advisory Committee, in an interview with Aknisree Karthik, he says there is no cause for concern now.
After a lull, we see that Covid-19 cases are rising. What could be the reason?
Coronavirus will remain in circulation at a low level. The precursor of the JN.1 variant was Pirola which was in circulation for several months with very few cases globally. The JN.1 variant has a single mutation which has enabled higher infectivity and ease of spread. This is to be expected with newer variants.
JN.1 variant is found in Kerala and other states. Is it a cause of worry?
As of now World Health Organisation (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC ) who have based their opinion on JN.1 trajectory in Singapore and other countries have said that this variant does not seem to add any further burden to public health. WHO has called it a Variant of Interest. There is no cause for concern apart from the need to be vigilant.
We have been hearing of waves and new variants. Can we consider Covid-19 to be endemic and live with it?
We feel we are past the pandemic now. We have entered a phase of endemicity where the population has varying degrees of immunity to coronavirus by infections, exposure and vaccination. The viruses will keep mutating and when a variant has the advantage of dodging some of this immunity, it will cause some surges.
What is your opinion on vaccination and booster doses? We see that the majority of those who died recently in Karnataka are double vaccinated.
The links between vaccines and unexpected deaths purportedly are more anecdotal than evidence-based. There is not much data to attribute causation. So our advice will be to go with the recommendations of the Government of India, WHO and other professional bodies concerning vaccination advice. As of now, a booster has not been recommended. We have to wait for further guidance.
Do you feel any strict restrictions are needed as there will be New Year celebrations and people travelling to different tourist spots?
The way we handle respiratory virus infections when it is a pandemic and a public health concern, and when it is not of that magnitude are different. Now is the time for sensible precautions rather than restrictions. I would urge the public not to panic and all of us to remain vigilant. People with medical conditions like kidney, lung, liver and heart diseases, the elderly and those with lowered immunity should be masked up in crowded indoor and outdoor places until we know better. We need to act responsibly if we have any symptoms like fever, cough and sore throat avoid close contact with vulnerable individuals and mask up until we recover.