Omicron: No deaths, no one in hospital. . . and symptoms ‘are only mild’
THE new Omicron variant does not look ‘really severe’ and data suggests most victims get only mild symptoms, experts said yesterday.
While there is some evidence of increased transmission, scientists claimed there was no need to ‘panic unnecessarily’ and that vaccines remained a ‘very, very good’ defence.
Statistician Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter said: ‘It’s a very difficult situation because we haven’t got a lot of data... almost nothing from this country about what the risks are. In South Africa there’s data coming out showing pretty strong evidence of the increased risk of transmission and some evidence about people going to hospital. But it may actually be milder. We haven’t got enough data yet.
‘It doesn’t look as if it’s really severe if you get it. I think that’s about all we can say at the moment.’
Asked if measures to combat the spread of Omicron had gone far enough, Sir David told Trevor PhilBBC’s
‘Disease may occur more in the young’
lips on Sky News: ‘It’s best to be precautionary, when there’s so much we don’t know... and when we don’t know it’s better to be safe than sorry.’ He added that the UK was being ‘saved by boosters’ countering the waning power of vaccines already received.
On Friday the World Health Organisation said there had been no reported deaths from the Omicron variant, despite it being detected in at least 38 countries.
The latest technical briefing from the UK Health Security Agency reveals that, as of November 30, no known cases of Omicron in England resulted in hospitalisation.
Further reassurance was provided by South African health researcher Professor Willem Hanekom, director of the Africa Health Research Institute, who said that while the ‘virus is spreading extraordinarily fast in South Africa’, so far the ‘disease has appeared to be mild’.
The professor, speaking on the Andrew Marr show, said that recent data suggested the ‘disease may occur more in younger people – and younger people who are unvaccinated’.
When asked whether he agreed with colleagues that the ‘rest of the world is panicking unnecessarily about Omicron’, he said: ‘I’m completely aligned to the view of my colleagues in South Africa.’
Yesterday 43,992 Covid-19 cases were recorded in the UK while a further 54 people were reported to have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
Adding to the debate, US pandemic adviser Dr Anthony Fauci said: ‘It does not look like there’s a great degree of severity to it. Thus far, the signals are a bit encouraging.’
The number of new Omicron cases reported in the UK rose by 86, bringing the total to 246 – an increase of more than 50 per cent in the space of a day. The UK Health Security Agency, which publishes the figures, said 18 of the cases are in Scotland and 68 in England.