Posted on 12/24/2021 9:21:13 AM PST by lightman
New studies showing the Omicron coronavirus variant may be up to 70 percent less likely to lead to hospitalisation offer a “glimmer of Christmas hope,” a senior UK health official has said.
But UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Chief Executive Dr. Jenny Harries refused to retract her earlier statement that Omicron could be the most serious threat the UK has faced during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.
According to preliminary findings published by her own agency on Thursday, someone with Omicron is estimated to be as much as 45 percent less likely to attend the emergency department compared with the Delta variant, and as much as 70 percent less likely to be admitted to hospital.
Talking on BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme on Friday, Harries said, “There is a glimmer of Christmas hope in the findings that we published yesterday, but it definitely isn’t yet at the point where we could downgrade that serious threat.”
She said Omicron has become the “dominant strain now right across the UK,” and cases are still doubling across “most regions” of the country.
She added, “What we have got now is a really fine balance between something that looks like a lower risk of hospitalisation—which is great news—but equally a highly transmissible variant and one that we know evades some of our immune defences, so it is a very balanced position.”
Previously, Harries told the House of Commons on Dec. 15 that Omicron was “probably the most significant threat” since the start of the pandemic, and cases would be “staggering” compared to what had gone before.
She told the BBC on Friday that it is still too early to retract the statement, as the newly published findings are “preliminary” and data around Omicron’s impact on the elderly is still needed.
“I don’t think we do know yet that this is going to be a significantly less serious disease for the population—the older population—that we are normally most concerned about in relation to serious disease and death,” she said.
The UKHSA findings are consistent with two studies published on Wednesday, both of which suggest the severity of the Omicron variant is relatively mild.
Researchers from the Imperial College London estimated that Omicron patients were 20 to 25 percent less likely to need hospital care and 40 to 45 percent less likely to be hospitalised for one night or more when compared to patients with the Delta variant.
Scientists in a separate Scotland-wide study said Omicron is associated with a two-thirds reduction in the risk of hospital admission compared with Delta.
On Thursday, Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London and the lead scientist on the ZOE COVID Study app, also said that preliminary data based on around 2,500 probable cases reported on the ZOE app suggest that Omicron is milder than Delta.
The fear epidemic should be declared "OVER".
Buy a box of Kleenex if you should get the Omicron virus.
I’ve noticed that any hint of good news about COVID bothers the heck out of certain people in and out of govt.
I would like to thank every bottomfeeding, scumbag, Feral, piece of meat with two eyes, ‘RAT “judge” who decided that it was ‘wasis’ for America to stop foreign ‘RATS from Sud Afrika from coming here with their Omicron. My daughter-in-law, a RN in a Covid ICU was diagnosed with Covid last night. KMA you black robed ‘RAT chimpanzees.
A 70% less likely chance to become hospitalized offers only a “glimmer of Christmas hope”? These people sick.
This is good news in my mind. I hope it is true.
South Africa has crested it’s omicron wave, Nationwide.
New cases typically cook off for a few weeks (2-4, or more) before resulting in Hospitalizations and deaths. But so far, all the indications are that Omicron produces much less serious disease than Delta.
Johannesburg was the first major city hit with Omicron. The reported number of new Cases crested there before the National average, and has already dropped in half - yet there was no strain on the hospitals, like they saw during their Delta wave. A lower percentage of cases were admitted to the hospitals, average stays were much shorter, and serious illness or ICU care were much less.
***Not my information***
What Laboratories Should Know:
There are no authorized, cleared, or approved diagnostic tests to specifically detect SARS-CoV-2 variants (Omicron or other variants). Currently, COVID-19 tests are designed and authorized to check broadly for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, not for specific variants.
The Omicron variant has a deletion in the spike (S) gene (Δ69-70). Some molecular tests with multiple genetic targets include a target covering the portion of the S gene where the deletion occurs. The presence of this mutation can result in an S-gene target failure (SGTF, also referred to as an S-gene drop out). The S-gene target will fail (return as negative) while other targets are expected to remain positive in the presence of this virus. SGTF can signal the need for sequencing to characterize the variant in a specimen.
SGTF has been observed in other variants and thus is not specific to the Omicron variant.
HOPE given to us by Nazi camp health advisors, comforting
More contagious, less severe = lower rate of hospitalizations, faster end to the omicron wave and COVID itself
Move past “boosters” based on the original version of the virus (less and less effective as the virus continues to mutate) and focus on treatment. That should have been what was done full steam ahead in the months following vaccination which reduced and controlled the spread...instead the focus continued to be on vaccination as variants popped up, for which vaccines would become less and less effective as virus was not in the same form the vaccines were based on. Window of opportunity lost.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.