Academics have published research based on a study of Omicron cases in England suggesting people infected with it are less likely to end up in hospital than people infected with the Delta variant. The MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London has tweeted a link to the full report here.
And here is a news report from Imperial College London summarising the findings. It says: Estimates suggest Omicron cases are 15% less likely to attend hospital, and 40% less likely to be hospitalised for a night or more, compared to Delta. The researchers stress that these reductions in severity must be balanced against the larger risk of infection with Omicron, due to the reduction in protection provided by both vaccination and natural infection. For example, at a population level, large numbers of infections could still lead to large numbers of hospitalisations. They say the estimates provided in this paper will assist in refining mathematical models of potential healthcare demand associated with the unfolding European Omicron wave. And this is from Prof Neil Ferguson, the Imperial College epidemiologist, summarising the findings. He said: Our analysis shows evidence of a moderate reduction in the risk of hospitalisation associated with the Omicron variant compared with the Delta variant. However, this appears to be offset by the reduced efficacy of vaccines against infection with the Omicron variant. Given the high transmissibility of the Omicron virus, there remains the potential for health services to face increasing demand if Omicron cases continue to grow at the rate that has been seen in recent weeks. Daily cases of Covid-19 have passed 100,000 as the Omicron variant sweeps across the UK, according to government figures – the highest number since the pandemic began. The first minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford, has announced stringent restrictions that will come into force at 6am on Boxing Day in an effort to curb the spread of the Omicron variant, including the return of the rule of six and 2-metre social distancing in pubs, theatres and cinemas. Hundreds of thousands of clinically vulnerable five to 11-year-olds are to be offered Covid vaccines for the first time, with some scientists calling for the programme to be extended to the whole age group before the new school term. The NHS may set up “field hospitals” in the car parks of existing hospitals staffed partly by army medical personnel to help cope with a potential Omicron-driven surge in Covid patients. That is all from me for today. But our Covid coverage continues on our global live blog. It’s here.