A South African study offered pre-Christmas good tidings about the severity of Omicron on Wednesday as the fast-spreading coronavirus variant forces countries across the world to impose new curbs.
Governments urged citizens to vaccinate as Omicron becomes the dominant strain, upending reopening plans that many had hoped would herald the end of the pandemic, and unnerving financial markets.
Germany, Scotland, Ireland, the Netherlands and South Korea have reimposed partial or full lockdowns or other social distancing measures in recent days.
German health experts said on Wednesday that new curbs probably did not go far enough as the health minister said he had not ruled out a full lockdown.
Italy is preparing new measures and might make vaccinations obligatory for more categories of workers, Prime Minister Mario Draghi said.
Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic and Spain were also considering new curbs.
Omicron was first detected last month in southern Africa and Hong Kong. Studies indicate it is more resistant to vaccines developed before it emerged.
However, the South African study suggested that those infected with Omicron were less likely to end up in hospital than those with Delta.
‘POSITIVE STORY’
The study by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and major universities, which had not been peer-reviewed, compared South African Omicron data from October and November with data about Delta between April and November.
The authors found that the risk of hospital admission was roughly 80% lower for those with Omicron, and that for those in hospital the risk of severe disease was roughly 30% lower.
“In South Africa, this is the epidemiology: Omicron is behaving in a way that is less severe,” said Professor Cheryl Cohen of the NICD, one of the authors.
“Compellingly, together our data really suggest a positive story of a reduced severity of Omicron compared to other variants.”
Still, the authors included caveats and cautioned against jumping to conclusions. A study by Imperial College London released last week found no sign that Omicron was milder.
Policymakers across the world are scrambling to address the economic blow that might come from new outbreaks; Britain on Tuesday announced 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) of support for businesses hit hardest.
Some 300 South Korean business owners protested in Seoul on Wednesday against the return of strict social distancing rules, urging the government to scrap its “vaccine pass” policy and compensate them for losses.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett welcomed a Health Ministry panel’s recommendation that the over 60s, those with compromised immune systems and health workers should receive fourth COVID shots.
DAILY NATION
