Silver lining in the year of Omicron

Ayear ago, the situation looked bleak indeed. The Delta variant was seeping through the world-class fortifications of New Zealand’s Covid-19 precautions. In a last-ditch effort to slow the spread to vulnerable communities, Auckland remained under a level 3 lockdown, only a slight adjustment from the level 4 restrictions imposed on the super city on August 17.

Then, about this time last year, an advisory panel of the World Health Organisation classified an alarming new Covid-19 variant first detected in South Africa as a highly transmissible virus of concern, naming it “Omicron” under its Greek letter system.

The variant was more contagious than Delta and boasted an increased likelihood of reinfection compared to other variants. The WHO suggested the variant could pose greater risks than the Delta variant, which was ravaging worldwide at the time.

It did appear Omicron was every bit as ominous as the name suggested.

But this variant came with a silver lining. A Kaiser Permanente study revealed that coronavirus infections caused by the Omicron variant had less severe outcomes and shorter hospital stays than those caused by Delta. In a spiky nutshell, Omicron wasn’t the killer that Delta was. Better yet, the super-charged contagious nature of Omicron gave it superiority over Delta.

The symptoms were still debilitating. But, of the morefrequent symptoms, loss or altered sense of smell, sneezing, runny nose, brain fog, eye soreness, headache, fever, and dizziness were reported significantly more often during Delta prevalence, while a sore throat and hoarse voice significantly more often reported with Omicron.

There are still many unknowns. Omicron continues to re-emerge in slight variations and each has the potential to throw up further complications in evading immunity or increased transmissibility or even heightened severity of symptoms. Our health officials are continuing to monitor new variants, and haven’t ruled out the option of scaling up health measures if needed.

Long Covid has become a general term to describe symptoms that continue or develop after the initial Covid-19 illness and cannot be explained by any other condition. People suffer a wide range of symptoms that can last more than four weeks or even months after infection.

Despite the markedly different levels of freedom we enjoy compared with this time last year, Covid is not “over”. Four deaths last week were attributed to the virus.

Wider economic and social impacts will be felt for years and, perhaps, generations. But we may be grateful for the small mercies of Omicron.