Covid cases continue to go up in Oman

The Sultanate of Oman continued to report a surge in cases despite assurances from health experts that the Omicron variant is less severe than previous ones.

The Ministry of Health reported 343 cases in 72 hours, including one death.

According to MoH, 119 new cases were recorded on Thursday, 102 on Friday, and 122 on Saturday.

Dr Zakaria al Balushi, a consultant at Royal Hospital, said, citing initial statistics, that Omicron variants do spread fast, but the chances of people getting severe illness are less compared to other variants.

Meanwhile, the health experts have also warned that this situation can change as the world currently has a new wave of daily cases and even deaths in some countries.

"The surge is going to be very fast, and many people are going to be sick," WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said.

"The surge is going to be very fast, and many people are going to be sick," she warned with the new variant of concern already driving up cases across the world.

Dr Swaminathan said that the Omicron outbreak, which has triggered fresh concerns globally and raised the alarm, will see the burden shift from hospitals to the out-patients department, from ICUs to home-based care.

"Unlike the Delta variant, there have been no reports of patients suffering from severe respiratory issues due to Omicron."

Even the epidemiological data from South Africa (where the Omicron was reported for the first time), suggest that the variant is fatal compared to others.

Studies from the UK have warned that variant could still lead to large numbers of people in hospital.

The Ministry of Health has warned that hospital inpatients are likely to go up in the Sultanate of Oman and it can put an extra burden on the healthcare system.

Dr Ahmed Mohammed al Saeedi, Minister of Health, stressed the need for taking the third dose or booster to increase protection against the Omicron.

He said that the number of infections witnessed an increase in recent days and added it is the government’s duty to protect members of the society and maintain public health, as the health sector underwent a rough time in the previous year.

"There is no plan, at the time being, to make the booster dose mandatory and it is very early to discuss the possibility of administering an annual dose against Covid-19," said Al Saeedi said.