Because the symptoms due to infection with the Omicron variant are milder than the Delta variant, which had caused the previous wave of COVID-19, doctors in South Africa are starting to see a ‘bright spot’.
As the death rate is lower than the previous wave of COVID-19, doctors say hospitalization rates have the potential to decline in the coming weeks.
Referring to the International Journal of Infectious Diseases report, doctors at Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Tshwane City, South Africa, compared 466 patients with the Omicron variant treated since mid-November 2021 with 3,976 patients treated before that. The death rate during the Omicron surge was 4.5% percent, compared to 21.3 percent in the previous period.
Omicron patients were discharged after an average of 4 days of treatment, whereas patients with previous variant infections were treated for an average of 8 days.
At the peak of the surge in the Omicron variant, the number of beds filled with infected patients was half of the previous period.
“The Omicron outbreak has spread and decreased … at an unprecedented pace, peaking in four weeks,” the researchers said.
The researchers added that the results of studies varied from country to country, referring to differences in population characteristics, as well as levels of immunity from COVID-19 infection and vaccination. But looking at the pattern in South Africa, researchers are optimistic that the Omicron variant could be a sign of the eventual spike in cases of the Omicron variant.
“Continuing and repeating globally … the Omicron may be a sign of the end of the epidemic phase (of the health crisis),” he continued.
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