Data from South Africa and the United Kingdom have confirmed that the Omicron coronavirus strain does lead to a milder course of the disease, but it is highly contagious. Reuters reports.
According to data from South Africa, patients have a 70-80 percent milder course of the disease than due to the Delta strain. However, it is emphasized that this data should not be generalized to all countries. In particular, the average age of South Africa’s population is lower than, for example, in European countries.
In Britain, they note that those infected with Omicron are 15-20 percent less in need of inpatient treatment and 40-45 percent less likely to stay in the hospital for more than a day.
Those who have had the coronavirus are 50 to 60 percent less likely to need hospitalization than those who have not. However, the risk of hospitalization for the unvaccinated and for people who have not yet had COVID-19 remains at about the same level as for previous strains of the coronavirus.
Medical workers and scientists warn that Omicron’s high contagiousness and ability to break through vaccine protection can still put a strain on the medical system — the more people get sick, the higher is the risk of hospitalization.
