Omicron

Omicron

Topic: Science and tech

Context:

The World Health Organization has classified a new variant of the novel coronavirus, which belongs to a lineage named B.1.1.529, as a ‘variant of concern’, and named is Omicron. This variant was first identified by scientists in South Africa, but has spread to nearly a dozed countries including Australia, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Hong Kong, Botswana and Belgium.

Can an RT-PCR test detect infection with Omicron variant of Covid-19?

• RT-PCR tests can only confirm whether the person has an infection or not. They are not designed to determine which particular variant has infected the person. For that, a genome sequencing study has to be done.
• Not all infected samples are sent for genome sequencing, because it is a slow, complicated and costly process. Normally, only a very small subset of all positive samples — about 2 to 5 per cent — is sent for gene analysis.
• RT-PCR tests look for the presence of some specific identifiers in the genetic material (not the entire gene sequence) of the virus in the human body. Usually, two or more identifiers are searched to increase the probability of finding a match. If one of the identifiers has mutated, the other one can still return a positive result.
• The problem is that Omicron is not the only variant that has mutations in the spike protein. A few others, notably the Alpha variant, also have mutations in this region, and therefore could show similar behaviour in RT-PCR tests.