First British data: Hospitals are collapsing but the booster is effective against Omicron. “In Italy it’s 20%”

The Omicron variant causes a milder prognosis than that induced by the delta variant. The first South African analysis on the latest COVID version has been confirmed by the British Public Health Agency, which will publish the results of the first research on British patients in the coming days.

This is also good news for our country where Omicron’s presence is estimated to be much higher than the official figures. A minimum of 10% is calculated against the 2% recorded on the international Gisaid platform. But yesterday the councilor for the health of Emilia Romagna, Raffaele Donini, “put an estimate on the presence of the Omicron variant in Emilia-Romagna at 20%, even if ten are few cases”. Confirmed hypothesis in the words of the physicist Giorgio Sestilli which underlines that in the last 7 days there has been “a new jump with a 40% increase in infections: most likely due to the very rapid spread of omicrons also in Italy”. “. Virologist Guido Silvestri’s invitation not to give in to “mass hysteria” on Omicron as earlier studies indicate a low lethality and a low risk of hospitalization.

The data are comparable to those reported yesterday by Politico, which had access to the results of the research, though it doesn’t just bring good news. According to the study, people who become critically ill have a higher risk of being hospitalized and dying. Given that Omicron’s transmissibility has been confirmed to be much higher than that of the delta version, a high number of infections could still cause a significant absolute number of critically ill patients, resulting in a strain on the English health system. There is pressure. On the vaccine front, if two doses do not seem sufficient for strong coverage against Omicron, a booster dose is confirmed to be the key to higher protection against symptomatic infection and hospitalization. The study is based on field data not on laboratory analysis and therefore takes into account the specifics of the UK situation: high vaccination rates (82% of the population over 12 years) and the third dose administered (of the population over 12 years). 52%) 12 years, in the last few days vaccination of about 900 thousand a day). This means that in general the same conclusion cannot be predicted, as it is not yet clear whether Omicron’s low invasiveness is due to the vaccine screen or an inherent feature of the variant.

To the British government, however, it could be interpreted as a shot in the arm. Barring the new restrictions ahead of Christmas, the focus has now shifted after December 25, a politically unstable one for Johnson, who faces strong internal opposition. The imposition of the new restrictions, as announced in both Wales and Scotland, will be the subject of heated political debate in the coming days, with supporters of liberal and pro-sanctions lines using the latest data to support their position. want. The country recorded 106,000 new cases yesterday, an absolute record since the start of the pandemic. Stratospheric numbers, however, are half of the 200,000 cases reported earlier this week by Omicron’s estimate of the spread. Professor Paul Hunter, an advisor to the World Health Organization, said in the Times yesterday that the disease could reach its peak. The same trend was recorded in the Gwateng region, the epicenter of Omicron in South Africa, where hospitalizations have fallen by 35% in the past week. It is not yet clear how much public behavior has affected the prevention of the development of infection, Johnson will also take into account whether to impose restrictions or rely on the restraint of the British.