Despite its high contagious rate, the Omicron variant is less severe than other pandemic phases, CDC claims.
That being said, the current variant has caused severe infection in the individuals who contracted the virus and has a higher transmissibility rate than other variants. Moreover, it has broken a previous death toll record with 2,200 fatalities in a day, according to the recent reports received from federal health officials.
“New @CDCMMWR finds in Jan. 2022, despite #COVID19 cases & hospitalizations the highest of the pandemic w/ Omicron variant circulating, the percentage with severe COVID-19 outcomes appears lower than during other high spread periods”, CDC Tweeted.
After a thorough study on the virus, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers said on Tuesday that people who contracted this variant are less likely to get hospitalized for longer days or to admit to intensive care departments, as compared to the delta variant.
Despite recording high hospitalization and infection rate due to Omicron, the rate of hospitalized individuals with severe cases is still lesser than other pandemic waves.
Reports suggest that the current positive results are likely due to increased immunity and thorough vaccinations covering people aged 5 and more. In contrast, other relevant studies indicated that it is happening due to the incapability of the virus to penetrate deep into the lungs.
Despite that, the virus’s contagiousness results in higher hospitalization rates and deaths for immunocompromised.
The 7 days average for death due to Omicron was 2,230 solely in the United States, making it the highest toll since Feb 2021.
“People with underlying conditions, people with advanced age, people who are unvaccinated, can have a severe form of Covid-19, following infection from omicron,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization epidemiologist said a few days ago. “People are still being hospitalized with this variant, as well as dying.”
“The strain on health systems stemming from the large numbers of infections underscores the importance of hospital surge capacity and the ability to adequately staff health-care systems”, the report says.
Pediatrics and infectious diseases professor at the University of Utah, Andrew T. Pavia said, “the omicron wave has been bad news with the largest societal and health care impact, but for infected individuals, particularly those who are vaccinated, the decreased overall severity is good news”.
