Dear Express Explained reader, The Omicron wave has so far behaved as expected: the daily cases curve has risen sharply but hospitalisations haven't, and oxygen- and ICU-bed occupancy remains low everywhere. According to mathematician Prof Manindra Agrawal, who has done several important modelling studies throughout this pandemic, the peak in Delhi and Mumbai could come soon, maybe as early as a week from now, and around the beginning of next month for the country as a whole. Anonna Dutt wrote a summary of what is known of Omicron's behaviour so far, whether it is really "mild", and what makes it simultaneously more transmissible and less dangerous for the individual patient in most cases. The government announced an important change in the home isolation protocol this week, following the US CDC to cut the recommended isolation period and to relax the post-isolation testing requirement. Anuradha Mascarenhas put the policy change in perspective — the need felt by most governments to balance pragmatism and precaution in order to ensure, as the CDC has said, a "functioning society and economy". Early in the week as vaccination was opened to adolescent Indians, there was some confusion after people complained of being administered "expired" doses of Covaxin. Anuradha and Kaunain Sheriff M wrote about the potency of vaccines, how their shelf life is determined, and why this assessment can change as more data become available. We published two major non-Covid-related explainers this week that I'd like to flag to you. Following the extraordinary breach of the Prime Minister's security in Punjab, which has led to an unfortunate political controversy, Deeptiman Tiwary wrote a primer on how an SPG protectee's security is planned, and what went wrong in this instance. And Shyamlal Yadav wrote on the changes recommended by a government panel in determining the criteria for reservation under the EWS quota. Stay safe and stay aware. Keep reading The Indian Express Explained. Sincerely, Monojit (monojit.majumdar@expressindia.com) If you received this newsletter as a forward, you can subscribe to it here | Do read our Explained articles here | .png)
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