The Omicron variant whi has been called a variant of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. As of December 2021, it is the newest variant. It was first reported to the World Health Organization from South Africa on 24 November 2021
The Santa Claus may be upon us after all. Markets thrive on the optimism that the wave of Omicron appears to be milder. The reports came out over a series of days and the upbeat sentiment was rehashed on Wednesday of news of preliminary studies published in the UK and South Africa.
The recent proofs suggests that
suggests fewer people are needing hospital treatment than with other variants – with estimates ranging from a 30% to a 70% reduction, the BBC reported.
In spite of that, the spread of the disease could overwhelm hospitals, the article warns as it notes that more than 100,000 cases have been reported in the UK in a single day for the first time. Also, cases of omicron are doubling about every two days. In the past week, the percentage of omicron cases in the United States rose from 13 percent to 73 percent.
“The major question for everyone right now isn't whether omicron is going to hit their area. It will,” said Dr. Michael Saag, an infectious disease expert and associate dean for global health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
“The question,” he said, “is how much disease will it cause？”
The BBC wrote, ''a deeper understanding of the severity of Omicron will help countries decide how to respond to the virus.''
''The study in Scotland has been tracking coronavirus and the number of people ending up in hospital.
It said that if Omicron behaved the same as Delta, they would expect about 47 people to have been admitted to hospital already. At the moment there are only 15.
The researchers said they were seeing a roughly two-thirds reduction in the number needing hospital care, but there were very few cases and few at-risk elderly people in the study.''
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