UKHSA: 70% lower risk of hospitalization with omicron strain than delta
Photo: Artem Krasnov / Kommersant
Patients with the omicron strain are 50 to 70 percent less likely to be admitted to hospital than those with delta. The Guardian newspaper writes about this with reference to a study by the UK Healthcare Safety Agency (UKHSA).
“Our recent study shows encouraging initial indications that people who become infected with omicron are significantly less likely to be hospitalized than those who become infected with other options,” the study said.
In addition, according to scientists, those infected with the omicron are 31-45 percent less likely to end up in intensive care.
However, the strain is transmitted faster than previous variants of the coronavirus, so the risk of hospitalization rates and the burden on the healthcare system remaining high this year remains high.
Also, scientists came to the conclusion that in the case of the omicron strain among those who have had COVID-19, there are more cases of re-infection with coronavirus infection. According to the UKHSA, about 10 percent of those infected with the omicron strain in the UK have previously had coronavirus.
It is noted that, according to doctors, vaccines used in the country are less effective in protecting against a new strain, but a booster dose is more likely to prevent infection. The protection against the virus will weaken, according to the researchers, ten days after vaccination.
Earlier, scientists at the University of Edinburgh presented preliminary results of a study that show that the omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is less dangerous than previous strains. They concluded that the softer omicron variant replaces the delta strain, since it is more easily transmitted from person to person.
