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South Korea says Omicron considerably less severe than Delta

22 February 2022 12:55 (UTC +04:00)

We start with news that people infected with the Omicron coronavirus variant are nearly 75% less likely to develop serious illness or die than those who contract the Delta variant, real world data released by South Korea’s health authorities showed, APA reports citing The Guardian.

A study by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) of some 67,200 infections confirmed since December showed the Omicron variant’s severity and death rates averaged 0.38% and 0.18%, respectively, compared with 1.4% and 0.7% for the Delta cases.

The KDCA classed severe cases as people who were hospitalised in intensive care units, Reuters reported.

Around 56% of 1,073 people who died over the past five weeks were either unvaccinated or had received only one dose, the study showed, with people aged 60 or older accounting for 94% of deaths.

More than 86% of South Korea’s 52 million population have been double vaccinated and nearly 60% have received a booster shot.