Norwegian health authorities said Wednesday that the risks of hospitalizations related to COVID are 69% lower with Omicron than with Delta, confirming indications that this alternative appears to be less risky.
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“Preliminary analysis of Norwegian data indicates that the risk of hospitalization with COVID as the main cause is 69% lower with the Omicron variant compared to infection with the delta variant,” the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) wrote in its weekly report.
The Omicron variant was found in 32% of people hospitalized with COVID in the Scandinavian country during the first week of 2022 (24 out of 74) compared to 1.7% four weeks earlier (3 out of 175).
But, over the same period, the variant has become widely prevalent, now accounting for about 90% of new infections.
The FHI noted in another risk assessment report that “the Omicron variant has a significantly lower risk than the delta variant of developing a severe form of the disease in affected subjects, at least in unimmunized subjects.”
However, the institute says it expects a winter wave that will put the health service under stress: from January to March, “several hundreds of thousands” of people should be infected according to its forecast, with the daily peak potentially approaching 50,000 cases.
Norway has a population of 5.4 million.
Face à la résurgence de l’épidémie sur le territoire national, le gouvernement a réintroduit des mesures sanitaires à la mi-décembre, y compris une interdiction de vendre de l’alcool dansé les bars et les étrane restaurants, né lélé Maybe.
He announced a press conference on Thursday at 7:00 pm (6:00 pm GMT).
