OFFICIAL: OMICRON 50% LESS SEVERE

...and raft of other studies confirm variant IS weaker – so did First Minister jump gun on new curbs?

OMICRON patients are only half as likely to need hospital treatment as those hit by earlier Covid strains, health officials have concluded.

In a major boost for the nation, a series of UK studies shows the highly infectious variant leads to significantly milder illness.

University of edinburgh research, using Scottish data, also shows that getting boosted is ‘even more important than we previously thought’ and reduces the risk of infection by 56 per cent compared with two vaccine doses.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) will today publish a report stating the overall risk of hospitalisation is slashed by 50 per cent if patients have Omicron rather than another variant.

early evidence suggests fewer infected people are needing hospital treatment – potentially around a two-thirds reduction.

Dr Jim McMenamin of Public Health Scotland called the findings a ‘qualified good-news story’,

but it was ‘important we don’t get ahead of ourselves’.

‘the potentially serious impact of omicron on a population cannot be underestimated,’ he said. ‘A smaller proportion of a much greater number of cases that might ultimately require treatment can still mean a substantial number of people who may experience severe Covid infections that could lead to hospitalisation.’ the findings came as:

■ Scotland is considering following England by cutting self-isolation times from ten to seven days;

■ Scots were told to prepare for a fourth vaccine next year;

■ Deputy First Minister John swinney warned tough new restrictions could go on longer than three weeks;

■ Daily Covid-19 cases in the UK exceeded 100,000 for the first time.

the UKhsA report is based on two crucial studies which compared rates of hospital admission for omicron patients with the previous Delta variant. the first, led by Imperial College London, looked at 325,000 Covid cases in England during the first two weeks of December, which included 56,000 omicron infections. It concluded that patients with omicron were 40 per cent less likely to require a night in hospital compared with those who catch Delta.

Vaccinated patients were significantly less likely to need hospital treatment, while previous infection with Covid also cut the risk by two-thirds.

the findings were supported by a second study from Edinburgh University, which looked at 23,000 omicron cases in scotland and found hospital admissions were 68 per cent lower.

stephen Montgomery, of the scottish hospitality Group, said: ‘the news this evening is very encouraging for everyone, including the hospitality sector which has been hit with a tsunami of cancellations in the past two weeks.

‘We will of course wait to see this confirmed, and if so, we would expect the restrictions placed on the sector to be eased at the earliest time possible.’

researchers stressed the results are based on limited early data and have yet to be peer reviewed. More than 20,000 probable cases of omicron have been recorded in scotland.

Last night, First Minister Nicola sturgeon tweeted: ‘this is encouraging early data – hopefully confidence will build as we get more data.’ she added a ‘key point to remember’ is that a smaller percentage of a much larger number of cases ‘will still put increased pressure on the Nhs’. scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr sandesh Gulhane said: ‘this study appears to confirm two positive things that had previously been suspected: firstly, that omicron, while more transmissible, is less dangerous than the Delta variant and, secondly, booster jabs are the best defence against both forms of Covid, not just Delta.’