Since the time COVID-19 pandemic began, mis-information related to the infection has been doing the rounds on social media from time to time. One of the most prevalent falsehoods is the claim that COVID-19 is just another strain of the seasonal flu.

But this does not seem to end here. The latest misinformation doing the rounds is that Omicron is the common cold. The claim comes at a time when India and the world, particularly some European countries and the United States are battling a massive surge in COVID-19 infections.

Similar versions of the claim have been shared on both social media platforms, Facebook and Twitter. Researchers are trying to understand the new Omicron variant first identified in South Africa on November 24. Early studies do suggest Omicron may be less severe than previous variants like Delta which led to deadly second wave in India.

Dr Charles Chiu, an infectious disease specialist in the United States states that Omicron should not be considered as part of the list of viruses that cause the common cold. It was Dr Chiu’s laboratory at the University of California-San Francisco that detected the first Omicron case in the US.

The most common symptoms of Omicron resemble symptoms of the common cold like runny nose, congestion, cough and fatigue. But the two are not the same. COVID-19 and common cold are caused by different virus. COVID-19 is caused by SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus that first emerged in 2019. The rhinovirus is the predominant cause of the common cold.

People typically recover from a common cold in seven to 10 days, and the infection generally does not require medical attention. Omicron, on the other hand, can cause more serious illness, says doctors from the United States.

Meanwhile, experts say that the next two weeks will be crucial for India as the country witnesses a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, mostly triggered by the Omicron variant. Some are even calling this the third wave of pandemic in India.

Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at the WHO wrote on Twitter, “Omicron is not the common cold. Health systems can get overwhelmed. Important to have systems to test, advise and monitor a large number of patients as the surge can be sudden and huge.”

Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain on Monday said that genome sequencing reports show the Omicron variant has been found in 84% of the samples tested. The Centre too has warned states and union territories that the new variant is three times more transmissible than the highly infectious Delta variant.