24 December,2021 08:22 AM IST | London | Agencies
People wait in long lines in Manhattan to get tested for Covid-19 on December 22 in New York City. Pic/AFP
Two studies based on real-world Covid-19 UK data on Thursday reported that the Omicron variant is less severe than the Delta variant, with fewer infected people requiring hospitalisation. Research by Imperial College London found that people with PCR-confirmed Omicron are 40 to 45 per cent less likely to spend a night or more in hospital compared to the Delta variant. Those with Omicron after a previous infection are 50 to 60 per cent less likely to be hospitalised, compared to those with no previous infection. However, the risk of hospitalisation is higher for the unvaccinated.
"Our analysis shows evidence of a moderate reduction in the risk of hospitalisation associated with the Omicron variant compared with the Delta variant," said Imperial's Professor Neil Ferguson. "However, this appears to be offset by the reduced efficacy of vaccines against infection with Omicron," he cautioned. The "high transmissibility" of Omicron could lead to health services facing "increasing demand" if cases grow at the rate seen recently, he said after the UK recorded over 100,000 daily Covid infections on Wednesday. The sample for the Imperial College study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, included 56,000 Omicron cases and 269,000 Delta cases.
Another research by the University of Edinburgh and other experts in Scotland, based on a small sample of 15 people in hospital, also concluded a two-thirds reduction in the risk of Covid-19 hospitalisation when compared to Delta. Dr Jim McMenamin, the national Covid-19 incident director for Public Health Scotland, said the findings were "a qualified good news story", but a "smaller proportion of a much greater number of cases" could still mean a "substantial" number of people may experience severe Covid-19 infections which could lead to hospitalisation. But worldwide researchers have stressed the severity of the variant could be different for other populations and also effects on older age groups is yet to be fully studied.
China is redoubling efforts to control new virus outbreaks with a lockdown of the 13 million residents of the northern city of Xi'an following a spike in coronavirus cases.
A third dose of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine produces similar neutralising antibody levels against Omicron as after two doses against the Delta variant, according to a new study led by the Oxford University which developed the vaccine. The yet-to-be peer-reviewed study showed the levels of neutralisation titres for Omicron seen after the third dose booster were higher than the neutralising antibodies found in individuals who had been previously infected with and recovered naturally from Alpha, Beta, Delta variants and original strain.
5,41,319
No. of new cases reported globally in the past 24 hours
27,52,33,892
Total no. of cases worldwide
53,64,996
Total no. of deaths worldwide
Source: WHO/Johns Hopkins
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