US: Study shows Omicron 91% less likely to cause deaths compared to Delta variant of COVID

The Omicron variant is less severe than the Delta variant of COVID-19, revealed a study conducted in California which was backed by data confirmed by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC). CDC Director Rochelle Walensky highlighted that even though the Omicron variant is less severe, however, it is more transmissible. According to the CDC data, the risk of hospitalization caused by the virus was reduced to half for people who have been infected with Omicron, in comparison to the Delta variant.

According to the CDC data, Omicron has a mortality rate 91% lower than that of Delta. The study also states that the duration of hospital stay was 3.4 days shorter for hospitalized cases with Omicron variant infections, in comparison to patients hospitalized with Delta variant infections, reflecting a 69.6% reduction in length of stay in hospitals. Around 53% reduction in risk of symptomatic hospitalisations was witnessed in the Omicron variant in comparison with the Delta variant.

Reduction in admission to ICU caused by Omicron

The risk of getting admitted to an intensive care unit driven by the Omicron variant was reduced to 74% in comparison to the Delta variant, as per the CDC data. For the study, the CDC analyzed 52,297 COVID-19 cases of Omicron variant and 16,982 cases with Delta variant in Southern California. The fatalities in the United States surged by 10% in the last two weeks and the 1,716 daily average is lower than the deaths reported during the wave caused by the Delta variant of COVID-19 over summer, reported The Daily Mail. As per the latest CDC data, 98% of active COVID-19 cases in the US are of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.

COVID-19 situation in the US

According to the US CDC, as of 13 January, 8,55,805 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the country which took the total number of cases to 63,397,935. 2,006 more fatalities were reported due to COVID-19 taking the total number of deaths to 842,873. According to the US CDC, 208.6 million people have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 while 78.1 million people have received a booster dose of the vaccine.

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