If omicron is really a milder variant, why are so many North Texans in the hospital? https://www.star-telegram.com/news/coronavirus/article257491444.html
Yeah, I notice the difference in the hospitalization data too but the answer may be as simple as that these are not Omicron patients but instead are Delta patients that's more pathogenic. I say that because in the United States...they only do genomic data sequencing of a fraction of hospitalized patients. Simply, Covidiots out there risking their life by thinking that if they get infected today...it will be an Omicron infection when it could be a Delta infection...the latter much more pathogenic and still out there in the United States. wrbtrader
The recent cases in January are Omicron seeing that it accounts for over 99% of the cases in the U.S. in recent weeks. It is likely that a number of the patients who have been in hospitals for weeks since last year in ICU ,etc. are Delta.
California Reports 11 Cases Of New “Stealth” Omicron Strain, BA.2 https://deadline.com/2022/01/ba2-california-cases-stealth-omicron-1234920347/
Omicron’s wave is at least 386% taller than delta’s—and it’s crushing hospitals Omicron wave's hospital admissions are 76% higher than delta's, CDC reports. https://arstechnica.com/science/202...86-taller-than-deltas-and-crushing-hospitals/
Hospitals across nation under 'unprecedented strain'; COVID deaths pass delta's peak https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...vaccination-mandates-cases-deaths/9248228002/
You're more likely to die from COVID-19 in the U.S. than other high income countries, study finds, just underlining the fact that if you're in the U.S. you're more likely to be a complete dumbass and refuse to get vaccinated. Furthermore could this have anything to do with the fact that we're the only one without universal single-payer health care coverage and that those who are unvaccinated are also the least likely to have health insurance? As well as those with poor or no health insurance are afraid to go get medical treatment until it's life threatening due to the bills. That's it exactly? Shocking. You're more likely to die from COVID-19 in the US than in other high-income countries amid omicron, data suggests https://news.yahoo.com/youre-more-likely-die-covid-100110932.html Although the omicron variant of the coronavirus is less likely to cause severe disease compared with previously dominating strains, the USA is still experiencing more COVID-19 deaths than at almost any other point in the pandemic. The country surpassed 900,000 deaths over the weekend and may reach a million by April, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data. About 2,400 deaths are reported each day. Omicron’s increased transmissibility may be partly to blame for a rise in deaths, health experts said, but data showing the U.S. case fatality rate is one of the highest in the world suggests there’s more to the story. The U.S. case fatality rate – the ratio between confirmed deaths and confirmed cases – has decreased from 1.63% since the height of the delta wave on Sept. 1 to 1.18% as of Feb. 6, according to Our World in Data. Though the country’s case fatality rate during the delta wave was below other high-income countries, it’s now among the highest. Health experts worry the USA may be falling behind the progress against the virus made by other countries. “Overall, there are fewer deaths per infection that are occurring, even in the U.S., but the numbers aren’t as good as we’ve seen in other parts of the world,” said Andrew Pekosz, a virologist and professor at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Low vaccination and booster rates, lack of coronavirus testing and consequences from an imperfect health system have stunted U.S. progress in the pandemic, leading to more COVID-19 deaths and a higher case fatality rate, health experts said. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported about 64% of Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, trailing Canada, which boasts a vaccination rate of nearly 80%, according to Our World in Data. The vaccines are not meant to prevent all infections, but they do “a great job” protecting against severe illness and death, said Chris Dickey, director of global and environmental health at New York University’s School of Global Public Health. “It is true that other countries seem to have lower case fatality ratios, and a lot of that is attributable to the difference in vaccinations and, most importantly, boosters,” he said. As of Monday, the CDC reported, 42% of eligible Americans had received a booster, about 27% of the total population, Our World in Data said. This pales in comparison with Denmark and the United Kingdom that report booster rates of more than 61% and 54%, respectively. Fully vaccinated Americans are 14 times less likely to die of COVID-19 than those who haven’t gotten the shots. Those who are boosted are 97 times less likely, according to figures presented last week by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. “In many countries where we saw higher case fatality from omicron, these are individuals who are not vaccinated,” Dr. Maria van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's COVID-19 technical lead, told the USA TODAY editorial board last week. “It is quite striking this level of death right now.” The higher case fatality rate could be partly explained by the lack of testing in the USA, health experts said. The Biden administration purchased 500 million rapid tests to send straight to American homes, but many positive results go unreported. CDC officials acknowledged in November the agency is unable to track home test results and works with testing companies to make it convenient for consumers to voluntarily report results, either through an app or website. But “the amount of data that have flowed as a result of these efforts (is) a tiny fraction of all COVID-19 testing data.” Johns Hopkins University reported more than 300,000 new positive tests Monday, but health experts said there may be more at home that would skew the case fatality rate. “Testing is better in some parts of the world,” Dickey said. “Other countries are testing much more frequently and accurately.” Access to testing is important to secure early treatment for people who may be more at risk for severe disease and death. Even if people detect the virus early, experts said, some are reluctant to seek care in the American health system until it becomes life-threatening, leading to more preventable deaths. “For quite a large segment of the U.S. population, people are much more reluctant to interact with the health system because they’re worried about the bills,” Dickey said. “Other countries, where health is more or less universally covered, they might be more ready to access the health system.” Although the pace of new COVID-19 cases has fallen by more than two-thirds from its peak weeks ago, Johns Hopkins University data shows, the country reports more than three cases every second. Health experts urged Americans to take preventive measures to avoid infection and severe illness, including wearing a mask, testing early and often and, most importantly, getting vaccinated and boosted. “There are many factors driving this, but it’s truly astonishing to see this level of death into the third year of the pandemic when we have tools that can prevent it,” Kerkhove said.
Just in case anyone thinks that Omicron is less deadly to society or "mild". US sees average daily deaths from Omicron coronavirus variant top Delta total Figures from the Centres for Disease Control show that the seven-day average death rate topped 2,228 last week The number of fatalities is higher than other developed nations – a fact many have argued is down to its lower vaccination rates https://www.scmp.com/news/china/sci...-average-daily-deaths-omicron-top-delta-total
CDC Data: ‘Stealth’ Omicron Cases Doubling Every Week in the U.S. BA.2, or ‘stealth’ omicron, was responsible for 8% of coronavirus infections in the U.S. last week, the CDC estimates. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-...-omicron-cases-doubling-every-week-in-the-u-s
CDC Data: ‘Stealth’ Omicron Responsible for More Than 1 in 10 Coronavirus Cases BA.2, or ‘stealth’ omicron, was responsible for over 11% of coronavirus cases in the U.S. last week, the CDC estimates. https://www.usnews.com/news/health-...sible-for-more-than-1-in-10-coronavirus-cases