Omicron news stats

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More good news on Omicron – and THIS statistic stands out above the rest

If you take anything away from the first real-world Omicron data coming out of South Africa, this stat on hospitalisations is a great go-to.

Omicron news stats

Image credit: Pexels

For those of you who have been tracking this new variant with feverish interest, hoping that the first real-world data on Omicron would be positive rather than terrifying, this is your reward: Findings from Discovery Health have revealed that B.1.1.529 infections tend to be ‘much milder’ than those associated with other strains.

New data from South Africa: Fourth wave officially ‘milder’

This is a huge moment in the fight against COVID-19, and would go some way towards explaining why hospitalisations, ICU patients, and deaths haven’t soared in line with South Africa’s case rates.

It’s believed that high seroprevalence rates in Mzansi, which account for how much immunity people have against COVID-19, are behind the fact that Omicron is now a less concerning infection. In Gauteng alone, it’s estimated over 70% of people already have the antibodies needed to neutralise the worst effects of this disease.

The data released today was taken from over 200 000 COVID-positive patients. It revealed that the majority of us vaccinated with Pfizer jabs still have strong protections against severe illness, up at 70%. That’s down slightly from the immunity we have against other variants – but a booster can soon top that up again.

Good data on Omicron, but this is the best of the bunch

In total, it’s estimated that Omicron is around 29% less likely to put someone in hospital, when compared to the previous mutations discovered on our shores. That’s one hell of a result, and it feeds into our ‘stat of the day’.

In the Delta wave, around 101 patients per 1 000 received hospital treatment for COVID infections. That number has now dropped to 38 patients per 1 000 in the Omicron wave – figures that all but confirm this resurgence of the virus will be much less troubling than our previous forms of the virus.