Omicron: UK data shows lower hospitalization rate
Two studies conducted in the United Kingdom and published on Wednesday show that infections with the Omicron variant of Covid-19 are less likely to cause hospitalizations compared to the Delta variant, confirming a trend observed in South Africa.
These preliminary studies – one from Scotland, the other from England – were welcomed by experts, who were however cautious and pointed out that the high transmission rate of the variant could still result in more disease. severe cases.
“While the reduction in the risk of hospitalization with the Omicron variant is reassuring, the risk of infection remains extremely high,” warned Azra Ghani of Imperial College London, who co-authored the English study.
“This news does not take away from the extraordinary spread of this variant in the population, and the fact that even a small proportion of people requiring hospital care for Covid could turn into very large numbers if the rate of community spread continues. to increase, “warned Penny Ward, professor of pharmaceutical medicine at King’s College London, who was not involved in the research.
UK faces record cases
In the United Kingdom, too, the epidemic is progressing strongly. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, this Wednesday there were more than 100,000 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours, in the midst of an outbreak due to the Omicron variant which is causing new restrictions in certain regions two days before Christmas.
The country, among the hardest hit in the world (more than 147,500 dead), is trying to speed up vaccination. Almost a million booster doses are given every day.
Contaminations continue to rise in France
Hello everyone and welcome to this direct devoted to the evolution of the health situation. Covid-19 contaminations continue to climb in France where 84,272 new cases were confirmed on Wednesday, according to figures published by Public Health France.
Over the past seven days, the average stood at 56,883 cases. The Minister of Health Olivier Véran warned Wednesday that the number of cases would increase and that we would exceed “very likely 100,000 contaminations per day by the end of the month”.
Pressure continues to mount on critical care services which have 3,147 patients compared to 3,096 on Tuesday, with 322 new admissions. 16,118 people are currently hospitalized against 16,076 the day before, with 1.04 new admissions.