Detection of highly muted coronavirus variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) is triggering the alarm for South Asian countries: Associated risk factors and preventive actions.

The identification of the most muted coronavirus variant is triggering alarm worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) designated this new variant as a variant of concern and named it Omicron (B.1.1.529) on November 26, 2021. It is the fifth “variant of concern” after Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. This variant mutated 50 times and holds more than 30 changes in its spike protein. Human antibody produced by the immune system targets mainly the spike protein to fight a coronavirus infection. After the first detection in South Africa, Australia, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Israel, Hong Kong, Britain, Botswana, and Belgium reported Omicron variant among their citizens so far. Researchers are still unclear about the effectiveness of vaccines against this variant because this variant displays multiple mutations that might resist neutralization. Moreover, the most worrying thing is that Omicron is significantly different from the first coronavirus identified in Wuhan, China. The WHO warned the countries about this new variant due to its enhanced transmissibility, spreading more efficiently, detrimental change in the COVID‐19 epidemiology. According to researchers, this new variant Omicron has a “very unusual constellation of mutations.” So, the heavily muted Omicron variant raised concerns that its spike might be able to evade antibodies produced by either a previous coronavirus infection or vaccination.

The South Asian countries have not yet fully recovered from the wave of Delta variant of coronavirus. A densely populated South Asian country India reported the Delta variant among its population. After the emergence of the double‐muted Delta variant, the healthcare system was devastated in India and its neighboring countries Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka. The pandemic situation took a drastic turn by record‐breaking new cases, deaths in South Asian countries. It has been observed that mutations of SARS‐CoV‐2 can occur where people are unwilling to follow the health safety guidelines like wearing masks properly, maintaining hand hygiene, maintaining physical distance, a mass gathering of people, insufficient mass vaccination, and so forth. Moreover, the countries in South Asia have faced COVID‐19 associated mucormycosis among their population that was a new scare for them. Also, South Asian countries like Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, where the vaccination rate is less than 35% among all adults. India has a population of about 1392 million, but the fully vaccinated population is about 30%. People are unwilling or careless about the COVID health regulations in South Asian countries. There is no confirmed case of the new Omicron variant in any South Asian country. However, several European countries reported the presence of the Omicron variant among their citizens during the deadly fourth wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic due to the Delta variant in Europe. The Omicron variant arrived in Europe amid an already upsurge due to the Delta variant. The Delta variant now accounts for 99% of total COVID cases. At present, Europe alone is contributing more than 50% of the global COVID cases.

Concerns have been raised about the new type of coronavirus variant. Countries around the world are on high alert. Countries in Asia and Europe have started taking steps like travel bans and various restrictions in South African countries. According to our previous experience, a travel ban cannot be an effective solution to tackle new coronavirus variants. Moreover, Gao et al. suspected that countries with weak public health infrastructure, low vaccination rates, and largeimmunocompromised populations are fertile fields for producing new variants. Therefore, it is essential to formulate a science‐based strategy to fight this new variant Omicron. We need more time to make decisions based on risk assessment about this newly identified variant. Mass immunization and public health protection measures still need to be prioritized. Thus, vaccination of all adults, avoidance of public gatherings, the unveiling of new genomes, and monitoring of abnormalities should be continued. Moreover, the healthcare burden and cost of COVID‐19 wave in South Asia as a developing part of the world. Therefore, the healthcare authorities of South Asian countries should be more cautious in dealing with the most heavily muted Omicron variant of coronavirus. European countries, the USA, Australia have already imposed a travel ban from Southern Africa and also discouraged its citizens to travel these countries. South Asian countries should take prompt measures regarding the flights from Southern Africa and countries where the Omicron variant has been confirmed. Otherwise, it will be more critical to control the transmission of the Omicron variant. Also, the healthcare systems in South Asia are frail. So, people should be encouraged to follow the health safety guidelines to avoid any future devastating attack of COVID‐19 due to the newly detected variant. The government authorities should give more emphasis to getting their population vaccinated as early as possible.

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Sohel Daria devised the study and wrote the first draft. Mohiuddin A. Bhuiyan and Md. Rabiul Islam edited and revised the manuscript. All the authors reviewed and approved the final submission.