A University of Oxford immunologist, John Bell, has said the omicron variant that’s taking the world by storm is not “the same disease we were seeing a year ago,” thereby reinforcing reports about the strain’s milder nature.
The strain, first discovered at the end of November, appears to be less severe and even patients, who do end up in the hospital, spend less time there.
Bell, a regius professor of medicine at Oxford, said on BBC Radio 4’s Today program:
The incidence of severe disease and death from this disease has basically not changed since we all got vaccinated and that’s really important to remember.
The horrific scenes that we saw a year ago- intensive care units being full, lots of people dying prematurely- that is now history in my view and I think we should be reassured that that’s likely to continue.
The disease does appear to be less severe, and many people spend a relatively short time in hospital. They don’t need high-flow oxygen, average length of stay is apparently three days, this is not the same disease as we were seeing a year ago.
Bell’s comments came after the U.K. government said it wouldn’t introduce stricter Covid-19 restrictions in England before the end of the year.
Infections have jumped by more than a quarter of a million in the past week, heaping pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to respond.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid late Monday said he’s monitoring the latest data and urged people to be careful, particularly at New Year celebrations.
