People infected with Omicron have been a third as likely to end up in hospital in South Africa compared with those infected by the Delta variant, according to the most comprehensive analysis so far. Even after accounting for the benefits of increased immunity in the population, scientists estimated the variant to be almost a third less virulent than the original Wuhan strain. SponsoredThe findings come from a healthcare provider responsible for 3.7 million patients in South Africa and are based on the first three weeks of their Omicron wave. They suggest that some of the effects of greater spread could be offset by a lower chance of hospitalisation. Dr Ryan Noach, the chief executive of Discovery Health, said that although the data was preliminary, they

Source: The Times December 14, 2021 08:31 UTC