Coronavirus: early studies show Omicron ‘less severe’, offering hope ahead of second pandemic Christmas
- South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases suggested that those infected with Omicron were much less likely to end up in hospital than those with the Delta strain
- World Health Organization officials cautioned that it was too soon to draw firm conclusions as the strain spread across the globe
South African data offered a glimmer of hope on Wednesday about the severity of the Omicron coronavirus variant, but World Health Organization officials cautioned that it was too soon to draw firm conclusions as the strain spread across the globe.
With the second pandemic Christmas days away, countries imposed new restrictions on their citizens while worrying about the damage the variant might inflict on their economies.
Plans for Christmas parties and celebrations were wiped out from London to New Delhi amid the uncertainty.
Omicron was first detected last month in southern Africa and Hong Kong. Preliminary data indicated it was more resistant to vaccines developed before it emerged.
But a study by South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) suggested that those infected with Omicron were much less likely to end up in hospital than those with the Delta strain.
Covid-19 cases also appear to have peaked in South Africa’s Gauteng province, where Omicron first emerged, it said.
The study, which has not been peer-reviewed, compared South African Omicron data from October and November with data about Delta between April and November.