Two studies in the UK show that infections with the Omicron coronavirus variant are less likely to “send” a person to hospital than with the Delta variant.

Those preliminary studies – one in Scotland and the other in England – were welcomed by experts, who warned, however, that a more contagious strain could eventually lead to more serious cases. An analysis by Imperial College London found that people infected with the Omicron variant were about 20 percent less likely to go to the hospital than those infected with the Delta variant. This analysis includes all cases of covidium confirmed in England in the first half of December in which the variant can be identified: 56.000 cases of Omicron and 269.000 cases of Delta.

A separate study from Scotland, conducted by researchers at the University of Edinburgh and other experts, found that the risk of hospitalization was two-thirds lower in Omicron than in Delta. But the study found that nearly 24.000 cases of Omicron in Scotland were mainly in people aged 20 to 39 years. Young people are much less likely to develop severe symptoms.

Source: MIA