12-15-2021, 10:56 AM
Quote:And for the subsequent waves, we’ve seen other patterns that lead to underestimation of severity. First, that’s the story at the start of every big Covid wave. Young people, who have more robust immune systems, get most of the early cases because they are generally much more social as well as often less rigorous about self-protection. Second, hospitalizations and deaths trail infections. Third, for South Africa in particular, its population is young (average age 27 versus 37 in the US and over 40 in the UK), which will somewhat blunt worst outcomes. As we know, Omicron is mighty contagious, so even less severe cases with many more infection can well yield hospital system collapse, but the claim that Omicron ain’t all that bad is not proven in RSA:Omicron Cases Serious in Denmark and Overall Morbidity Picture Not Pretty Either | naked capitalism
Today’s omicron report from Denmark compares % of cases that require hospitalization for delta vs omicron. It is HIGHER for omicron, and most of Denmark’s omicron cases were just diagnosed, meaning insufficient time has passed to require hospitalization