‘Welcome to the ‘never’ normal world we live in’: Here’s how India Inc. reacted to the Omicron COVID-19 variant

Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO and  Managing Director Uday Kotak has said that the latest Covid-19 variant Omicron  will prompt people, markets  and policymakers globally to  “shoot from the hip in crisis management” sans statistics to support   their  measures.  He also welcomed the netizens to the “‘never’ normal world we live in”.

 

“Omicron variant scare today, something else tomorrow. People, markets and policies maker in worldwide will shoot from the hip in crisis management without data. Welcome to the ‘never’ normal world we live in,” Kotak tweeted.

Kotak was, however, not the only one to tweet about the Omicron variant. Bio-con Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw also noted that the Omicron variant is supposed to be milder than Delta and wondered whether 7-day home quarantine for visitors from ‘at-risk’ nations were “too drastic” for the travellers with negative RT-PCR test and having full vaccination.

“7-day home quarantine for at-risk nations’ visitors amid ‘omicron’ scare – isn’t it too drastic for RT-PCR negative and fully vaccinated traveler? Are we allowing paranoia rule us? Omicron is supposed to milder than Delta,” Shaw tweeted.

RPG Group chairperson Harsh Goenka and Mahindra Group boss and Padma awardee Anand Mahindra also shared their observations on the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus. While Goenka made a case for increasing vaccination coverage, Mahindra wondered if and how markets will be impacted due to this development.

“Our response to Omicron should not be alarm or anxiety or boosters necessarily but finding a way how we can get more and more people vaccinated. As long as the virus spreads unchecked in South Africa or in Europe, new variants will continue to emerge….. Putting us all at risk,” Goenka wrote.

Mahindra asked, “And markets will dance to a change in the tune and rise again?”

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tredros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted that the Omicron variant reflects the threat posed by vaccine inequity. “The Omicron variant reflects the threat of prolonged vaccine injustice. The longer we take to deliver vaccine equity, the more we allow the COVID-19 virus to circulate, mutate and become potentially more dangerous,” the WHO chief tweeted. He added that WHO is working with scientists globally to understand the Omicron variant and its impact better.

 

Chairman of Mahindra Group, Anand Mahindra took to Twitter to express his annoyance over the latest Covid-19 variant detected in South Africa, which 

“Man, I’ve had enough of this Covid thing,” Mahindra exclaimed on the micro-blogging site.

“I wish Covid was just some annoying guy I could take into a boxing ring and just beat the crap out of….,” he added.reportedly contains "multiple mutations."

To this the CEO of Mahindra Electric, Suman Mishra stated, “Jeez really wish folks would get vaccinated so it won't mutate further.”

A follower of Mahindra tagged him on a GIF with the cartoon Jerry punching Tom, and mentioned “live visuals of Anand Mahindra and Covid-19”. This was followed by Mahindra stating “How I wish.”

South Africa scientists have now detected a new Covid-19 in small numbers, on which they are still working, reports said on Thursday.

The country, as a result, requested an urgent sitting of a World Health Organization (WHO) working group on virus evolution on Friday to discuss the new variant.

South african Health Minister Joe Phaahla said it was too early to say whether the government would impose tougher restrictions in response to the newly discovered variant.

South africa was the first country to detect the Beta variant last year.Beta is one of only four labelled "of concern" by the WHO because it is comparatively more contagious and Covid-19 vaccines work less well against it.

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