Omicron variant has 75% lower risk of death than Delta: study
Real-world data from South Korea confirms one variant causes more serious illness than the other
People infected with Omicron are nearly 75% less likely to develop serious illness or die than those who contract Delta, real-world data reveal.
The findings come from an examination of data from South Korea’s health authorities covering 67,200 COVID-19 infections confirmed since December.
The study showed the Omicron variant’s severity and death rates averaged 0.38% and 0.18%, respectively, compared with 1.4% and 0.7% for the Delta cases.
Researchers at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) classed severe cases as people who were hospitalised in intensive care units.
