New Delhi, June 7 (UNI) The Covid cases are rising rapidly and the deaths have alerted us but there is no need to panic, prominent doctor Mohsin Wali has said.

Dr. Wali, who has had the unique privilege of serving three Presidents of India -- R. Venkataraman, Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma, and Pranab Kumar Mukherjee -- said most of the people infected with

the virus will have mild to moderate respiratory illness and will not require special treatment.

While the potency of the current strain of the Covid virus has increased slightly, there is no need to panic, he says, adding people should, instead, be cautious about its transmission and follow Covid-appropriate behavior.

'This is a respiratory virus, a sars virus, and the current variant is a sub-variant of Omicron. Its spike protein has changed, and it has increased its ability to bind to cells. However, we need to fear not the virus itself but its transmission," he said.

'Fearing transmission means we need to wear masks, use sanitizers, maintain social distancing, and follow covid-appropriate protocols. We should not go directly to (interact with) small children or elderly people after coming home from outside," he suggested.

"If you have cough, cold, and fever for more than three days, get tested for covid. If the test is positive, don't panic. Isolate yourself and follow the doctor's advice," he added.

People with asthma, cold, and fever along with heart or kidney disease should be cautious and

those who have undergone kidney or liver transplant should also be careful.

"We don't need to do anything more than this. The government is monitoring it, and whenever

there is another variation, it will be caught," he says.

UNI AM AKK BM