Amid the looming threat of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, a recent study in South Africa has come as a sliver of hope. As per the study conducted at the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), the risk of hospitalisation for being infected with Omicron is significantly lower than that with the Delta variant. South Africa was the country where the first Omicron case was reported last month, while the Delta variant is said to have originated in India in December 2020.
How Was The South Africa Study On Omicron Undertaken?
As already stated, the study was undertaken at South Africa’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD).
- For this study, the researchers compared the data on Omicron in the country from October to November and compared it with that on the Delta variant from April to October.
- The study is yet to be peer-reviewed.
Findings Of The Study On Severity Of Omicron COVID Variant
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This is what the study found out:
- The risk of hospitalisation with the Omicron variant is considerably lower than that with the Delta variant. This can be crucial information as Delta was a major reason for the carnage in several countries from India to the United States. The lowered severity of Omicron provides some hope both in terms of the pressure on the healthcare system and the economic blow that any possible restrictions or lockdown would cause.
- In South Africa, Omicron “is behaving” less than severely, said NICD professor Cheryl Cohen, Reuters reported.
- He termed the lower severity of Omicron as compared to other variants as “a positive story”.
- This has been further corroborated by a study done at London’s Imperial College, where researchers found that the risk of hospitalisation with Omicron is about 40-45% less than Delta.
Omicron Variant: Follow COVID Protocols
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The studies were done in South Africa and the United Kingdom might have provided a ray of hope. But this doesn’t mean it’s time to get careless and ignore the protocols crucial to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This is crucial as the novel coronavirus is raging in several countries while cases are picking up in others.
- This is crucial as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that it doesn’t have a significant amount of data to confirm the conclusions made by these studies.
- A WHO official has said Omicron hasn’t circulated for long, especially among the vulnerable population.
- In such a scenario, it has asked countries to be “cautious,” especially since the Christmas and New Year celebrations are right around the corner, the news agency reported.
About The Omicron Variant
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It has been over 40 days since the Omicron variant was first detected. Research is underway in several countries to know the characteristics of this new variant. This is what we know about this new variant as of now:
- The first case of Omicron was reported on November 9 in South Africa in its Gauteng province.
- The country reported it to the WHO on November 24.
- Just two days later, the world health body declared it as a ‘variant of caution’, the highest cautionary alarm the WHO rings for a COVID variant. Notably, Delta is also a variant of concern.
- The preliminary data have suggested that this variant is highly transmissible, more than the other known variants.
- Not only that, it has shown the ability to evade the immune response generated by various COVID vaccines.
- As of now, the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna have shown lowered efficacy against Omicron. A booster dose, however, has shown a stronger immune response.
COVID-19 Situation Across The World
Just when we thought we were coming out of the pandemic, countries started opening up and economic activity started picking pace, the world was struck by a new variant. Countries such as the UK, the US, and France are witnessing a record number of cases daily. The UK reported a record number of over 100,000 cases on Wednesday, the highest since the pandemic began. France too recorded over 80,000 cases. The United States is daily recording over 100,000 cases, with the Omicron variant having become the dominant strain.
With the threat of Omicron looming large and COVID cases picking up, many countries have either implied or announced fresh restrictions. In India, Delhi has recorded over 50 Omicron cases, and has announced a ban on gatherings during Christmas and New Year. The country has till Thursday recorded 236 cases of the new variant. Meanwhile, globally, 277,167,932 cases of COVID-19 have been recorded along with 5,377,435 deaths, as per the Johns Hopkins University’s tally.
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