Omicron hospitalization risk around one third of Delta, UK analysis shows

People wearing face masks sanitize hands, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the main entrance of the Royal London Hospital, in London, Britain Dec. 31, 2021. (REUTERS)

LONDON — The risk of hospitalization with the Omicron variant of coronavirus is about one-third that of the Delta variant, according to British analysis of more than a million cases of both types in recent weeks.

Britain is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases driven by the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, with record daily infection levels being reported. While hospital admissions have started to rise, the government has said it believes the new variant is milder than the Delta variant.

The number of patients needing mechanical ventilation beds has also remained steady through December, unlike previous peaks in the pandemic.

The analysis was published by the UK Health Security Agency after it worked alongside Cambridge University MRC Biostatistics unit to analyze 528,176 Omicron cases and 573,012 Delta cases.

It also found that vaccines can work well against Omicron.

“In this analysis, the risk of hospitalization is lower for Omicron cases with symptomatic or asymptomatic infection after 2 and 3 doses of vaccine, with an 81% … reduction in the risk of hospitalization after 3 doses compared to unvaccinated Omicron cases,” the UKHSA said.

Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Adviser at UKHSA, said the analysis was in keeping with other encouraging signs on Omicron but said the health service could still struggle with such high transmission rates.

“It remains too early to draw any definitive conclusions on hospital severity, and the increased transmissibility of Omicron and the rising cases in the over 60s population in England means it remains highly likely that there will be significant pressure on the NHS in coming weeks,” she said.

ATM