No evidence yet that Omicron variant less severe than Delta, says study

There is currently no evidence that the new Covid-19 omicron variant is any less severe than the delta variant, says a research team from Imperial College London.

Having had COVID probably only offers 19% protection against Omicron, the study showed on Friday. That was roughly in line with two doses of vaccine, which the team estimated were as much as 20% effective against Omicron. Adding a booster dose helped dramatically, blocking an estimated 55% to 80% of symptomatic cases.

The Imperial College London team analyzed all the PCR test-confirmed COVID cases in England between Nov. 29 and Dec. 11, making it one of the most expansive examinations yet at Omicron’s potential to evade the body’s defenses. The results were in line with the picture emerging of the variant’s capacity to elude protection from previous infection or inoculation and spread faster than previous iterations of the virus.

There was no evidence of omicron cases being less severe than delta, based on the proportion of people testing positive who had symptoms or went to the hospital, the team said.

The study estimates that the risk of reinfection with the omicron variant is 5.4 times greater than that of the delta variant.

Yesterday, The tally of coronavirus infections caused by the Omicron variant has crossed 100 in India.

The highest number of infections so far, 32, have been detected in Maharashtra, followed by 22 cases in Delhi, 17 in Rajasthan, eight each in Telangana and Karnataka and five each in Kerala and Gujarat. Omicron variant has been reported in 91 countries in the world, informs WHO (World Health Organisation)