DDGHS tells people not to be fooled by mildness of Omicron

By Rathindra Kuruwita

People were not availing themselves of the booster shot because they were of the opinion that the Omicron variant was mild, Deputy Director General of Health Services, Dr. Hemantha Herath told The Island yesterday. However, as it was a highly contagioius variant those who had low immunity and underlying issues would contract the disease easily.

“Right now, most people who are affected are relatively young people and they are double jabbed. However, as more and more people get infected, those with non-communicable diseases and weak immune systems will become vulnerable. And these people will have severe symptoms, they will have to be hospitalised,” Dr. Herath warned.

Therefore, the spread of the virus needed to be controlled even if Omicron was thought to be mild, Dr. Herath said.

“The first thing is to follow health guidelines, the second is to get vaccinated and the third is to self-isolate if you contract Covid-19. If these are done, there won’t be a massive rise in hospitalisations. As long as the health sector can handle the caseload, we will be fine,” he said.