Pistol: Omicron wave may peak faster than Delta variant

The head of the National Centre for Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control, Adriana Pistol, said that the peak of the pandemic wave generated by the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus could be reached faster than in the case of the Delta variant, agerpres reports.

"We have a very high risk of the Omicron strain, which has a much higher transmissibility rate than the previous strain," Pistol told a press conference with Health Minister Alexandru Rafila on Wednesday .

Pistol considers that, in view of the pandemic wave generated by the OMICRON variant, there are several vulnerabilities: 60% of the population over the age of 65 and of the one with chronic diseases are not vaccinated, only 25% of the vaccinated have the booster dose, the development with difficulty of the epidemiological investigation due to the failure to fill in the passenger location form by the persons entering the country in a very large proportion and the delay in the implementation of the COVID certificate.

She explained that the number of cases of the disease could exceed 25,000 per day.

She explained that a large number of unvaccinated people over the age of 60 might get infected.

"Even if the severity of the Omicron variant is lower than that of the Delta variant, the responsiveness of the healthcare system will be overloaded, at least at the level of the previous wave of October 2021. Massive infection can lead to absenteeism. Although the symptoms may be absent or minimal among vaccinated health workers, positive testing will lead to their isolation at home. Nosocomial spread in non-COVID hospitals is also possible," said the head of the National Centre for Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control.

Adriana Pistol presented three scenarios of impact on the healthcare system during wave five, and estimated that, in the most severe case, the 25,000 beds available for COVID patients will be occupied in 27 days. Also, in the most pessimistic scenario, 1,500 ICU beds will be occupied in 20 days.