Coronavirus Omicron Live Updates: WHO says possibility of new variants high; 1 crore teens vaccinated says Health Minister

A health worker administers a dose of Covid-19 vaccine to a beneficiary at a school in New Delhi, Monday. (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)

AIIMS stops testing patients for Covid before admission, surgeries

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Wednesday discontinued routine testing of patients for Covid-19 before hospitalisation and surgeries. “In accordance with current ICMR national guidelines, it has been decided to discontinue with the routine Covid-19 testing prior to inpatient hospitalisation (regular as well as day care) and also prior to any minor or major surgical, interventional, and non-interventional procedures and imagings in clinically asymptomatic people,” read the communication from the medical superintendent of the hospital Dr D K Sharma.

The new guidelines were released by the Indian Council of Medical Research one month ago and did away with testing of asymptomatic patients in need of other surgeries and procedures. It also did away with testing on demand for asymptomatic persons, leading to a drop in the number of tests in the capital.

Can you get long Covid after an infection with Omicron?

It’s too early to know for sure, but many doctors believe it’s possible to have long-term effects from the omicron variant of the virus.

Long Covid is usually diagnosed many weeks after a bout with Covid-19. Any long-lasting effects typically appear about 90 days after symptoms of the initial infection go away, Maria Van Kerkhove of the World Health Organization said this week.

Overall, some estimates suggest more than a third of Covid-19 survivors will develop some symptoms of long Covid. Symptoms include fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, anxiety and other problems. The lingering illness is more likely if you’ve been hospitalized with Covid-19, but research shows it can happen even after a mild infection.