Minneapolis Star Tribune News

  People wait in line at a COVID-19 vaccination site at St Thomas hospital in London on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. Two new studies from British researchers suggest that omicron infections more often result in mild illness, compared with previous variants, offering hope that the current surge may not be quite as catastrophic as feared.    Three separate teams of scientists on two continents have found that omicron infections more often result in mild illness than earlier variants of the coronavirus, offering hope that the current surge may not be quite as catastrophic as feared despite skyrocketing caseloads. The researchers examined omicron’s course through populations in South Africa, Scotland and England. The results in each setting, while preliminary, all suggested that people infected with the variant were less likely to be hospitalized. “Given that this is everywhere, and given that it’s going to be so transmissible, anything that would lower severity...

  IMAGE SOURCE, GETTY IMAGES The wave of Omicron appears to be milder according to preliminary studies published in the UK and South Africa. Early evidence suggests fewer people are needing hospital treatment than with other variants - with estimates ranging from a 30% to a 70% reduction. But the concern remains that even if Omicron is milder, the sheer number of cases could overwhelm hospitals. More than 100,000 cases have been reported in the UK in a single day for the first time. A deeper understanding of the severity of Omicron will help countries decide how to respond to the virus. The study in Scotland has been tracking coronavirus and the number of people ending up in hospital.   if Omicron behaved the same as Delta, they would expect about 47 people to have been admitted to hospital already. At the moment there are only 15. The researchers said they were seeing a roughly two-thirds reduction in the number needing hospital care, but there were very few cases and few at-...