The Telegraph: 75% less omicron strain deaths than other waves of COVID-19
Photo: Cheney Orr / Reuters
The Omicron coronavirus strain has a 75 percent lower fatality rate compared to previous waves of COVID-19. The data on the new strain was evaluated by researchers from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in South Africa and their colleagues from the University of Pretoria, writes The Telegraph.
Scientists have followed patients hospitalized in the city of Tswane, Gauteng province, where the initial outbreak of the new strain occurred.
It turned out that after infection with omicron, 4.5 percent of hospitalized people died, while in previous waves of coronavirus, this figure reached 21.3 percent. According to the study, less than half of those admitted to hospital require oxygen therapy, while in the case of the previous strains, this figure reached 99.5 percent.
Also, experts found that those hospitalized during the outbreak of the omicron variant were discharged on average after four days. In previous waves, they left the hospital after 8.8 days.
Earlier, biologist Ancha Baranova said that the omicron strain of the coronavirus is unlikely to appear as a result of drug trials for the treatment of the delta variant. The specialist was skeptical about the version of the man-made appearance of a new strain. At the same time, she put forward a version that a large number of mutations of the omicron can be associated with mice. As a result of the fact that the S-protein of the coronavirus has better adapted to the receptor in mice, it has become better suited to the human, Baranova concluded.
