Health Matters By Dr Tim Allison: We all need to be careful to avoid hasty conclusions as the new Omicron Covid-19 variant threatens Inverness and the Highlands
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We have a new variant of Covid, but we are seeing the same story of rising infections and the need to take action.
Many infectious diseases come in waves and Covid certainly shows that pattern. Not only that, but we have seen waves with different variants and each one seems to be more infectious than the last.
I expect that this Christmas we look back to last year and remember the rising infections in January and restrictions on daily activity.
We are seeing rising cases of Covid, both locally and nationally. More and more of these cases are the Omicron variant, but we still need to find out more about the characteristics of Omicron.
It does appear to be much more infectious than previous variants, but we still need more information about whether it causes disease of the same severity.
We need to be careful to avoid hasty conclusions about Omicron.
We hear about what is happening in South Africa with Omicron, but the population is younger, more people have had past infections and fewer people are vaccinated, so conclusions from South Africa may not apply here.
Unlike this time last year, we have widespread vaccine coverage and Highland residents have been particularly keen to be vaccinated.
It is vital that as many people as possible are vaccinated and have the booster, since three doses gives good protection against all Covid variants. The NHS is aiming to provide boosters to everyone aged over 18 within days and weeks.
In Highland, we are using health board clinics which can be booked through the online portal. In addition, some general practices have been able to participate in this stage of the programme and we are delighted that they are able to increase our capacity to vaccinate.
As we anticipate further rises in Covid cases over the next few weeks it is essential that we all continue with the tried and trusted methods of control, including hand washing, wearing face coverings and isolation and PCR testing if we develop symptoms.
Christmas and Hogmanay are times when we want to meet with family and friends, but they are also times when there is added risk of Covid spread.
The greater number of close contacts we have, especially indoors, the higher the risk of Covid transmission. It is possible to celebrate over the festive period and still control the virus, but we do need to be cautious, follow guidance, use lateral flow tests and consider what would happen following an event if people there were found to be Covid positive.
Would everyone need to isolate and what would be the consequences?
When we think about what we are planning for the next few weeks, perhaps we should adapt an old advertising slogan: think once, think twice, think Covid.
• Dr Tim Allison is NHS Highland’s director of public health and policy.
