Explainer: Why the Covid-19 Omicron variant has sparked global concern

The discovery of two cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in Bengaluru has sparked concern about what this means for India.

Here’s what we know so far.

What is the Omicron variant?

Omicron, in keeping with the convention established by the World Health Organisation, is named after a Greek letter. This is the fifth “variant of concern” to have been detected since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2019. A “variant of concern” has ability to either evade the human immune response, has increased virulence or increased transmissibility that could have a global health significance.

On November 9, as Covid-19 infections began steeply rising in South Africa, doctors collected a sample from an infected patient. On November 24, the country informed the World Health Organisation about a new variant, B.1.1.529. On November 11, a second case of the new variant was found in neighbouring Botswana.

By November 26, the World Health Organisation’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution had named the variant Omicron and labelled it a “variant of concern”.

Mutations in viruses are commonplace as the virus jumps from one host to another. Mutations often help the virus transmit itself more easily from one host to another. The reason this particular variant is causing alarm is…

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