The omicron variant has spread with great speed throughout the world and many assure that it would not be so deadly, which is why several doubts surround it.
It was at the end of November 2021 when the WHO raised the alert due to the Omicron variant, which emerged in South Africa, classifying it as a virus even more transmissible than ‘Delta’ and that it had a drastic potential to spread.
The variant, which at the time several experts assured that it has more of 30 mutations, has been described on numerous occasions as more contagious but milder. However, the WHO itself warned that it should not be taken lightly since in the same way “is causing hospitalizations and deaths“, He said director general of the OMS, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The speed of its spread is not the only thing that differentiates Omicron from other variants, it is also its incubation time. Delta manifests its first symptoms on the fourth day while this variant usually does so on the third day, being the nasal congestion the most recurrent, according to a study by the Oxford University.
When can a person with the Omicron variant start to spread?
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in general those infected with coronavirus -regardless of the variant- are most contagious the days before symptoms appear. In the same way they can be in later days, but Ómicron has shown to have fewer days of incubation.
The physician Vicente Soriano, former adviser to the WHO, said that: “After one is sneezed in the face, the replication begins in one day and after two days it is already detectable. That is to say, the first symptoms appear”, he declared to BBC Mundo.
For his part the infectologist at Clínica Bupa Santiago, Ignacio Rodríguez, seconded what Soriano said: “The contagion of a person with the omicron variant is possible from 2 days before the onset of symptoms,” he assured.
In simple words, as stated by specialists, 24 hours after contracting the virus, it could already begin to spread.
How long can another be infected?
In general, the high point for contagion is the first few hours, since it is the period in which symptoms are not yet experienced, therefore people do not see the need to isolate themselves. This “asymptomatic” period can extend for two daysSoriano says.
From the positive result, there are from three to five days in which it can continue to be infected, he also stated. professor at the International University of La Rioja, Spain.
For his part, Rodríguez assures that the transmission time after the first manifestations of the symptoms would be longer. “up to 7 days”, he claimed.
Reduced isolation time
Some countries like United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Argentina Y France they have ventured to reduce the days of isolation, contrary to what is recommended by the WHO.
This is due to the shorter incubation times of the new variables compared to the original strain.
For example, in the USA, people must isolate themselves for only five days and in the United Kingdom, Spain and Argentina, they dropped to seven days, but with specific indications according to each country, slogan BBC Mundo.
In the specific case of the United Kingdom, the decrease in the period of isolation depends directly on having negative results in an antigen test, reported the UK Health Security Agency.
These tests are carried out on days six and seven and both must be negative to qualify for a quarantine of less than 10 days, as it is for other infected people.
In Chile, the quarantine period also decreased to seven, as announced by the minsal in the daily case report, on January 17.
When consulting the infectologist about this change, he stated: “seems to be safe, because, from what has been observed, the incubation period and contagiousness of Omicron seem to be shorter than that of other variables”.
It should be remembered that in Confirmed cases the 7 days of quarantine count from the day the symptoms first appeared. And, on the side of asymptomatic, the first day of isolation will be from the day the PCR test was performed.