Omicron-driven wave has fewer hospitalisations with lower severity, claims expert

The Omicron variant of COVID-19 has left people concerned as it is said to be more contagious than previous variants of the virus. However, Dr Dhiren Gupta, who is a Paediatric Pulmonologist at Sir Gangaram Hospital in Delhi, said on Friday that the Omicron-driven wave of COVID-19 has ten times fewer hospitalizations than the previous wave. He also stated that in comparison to the Delta variant, the Omicron variant is less severe.

As per the reports of ANI, Dr Gupta further said that if we look at the data from the previous three weeks and the current hospitalisation rate, we notice that it's over ten times lower than the second wave. In comparison to the previous year, barely 1/3 of the Sir Gangaram hospital is currently full, even during peak hours.

More likely to suffer as a result of Delta

He continued by saying that there is no denying that Omicron is a light variant, according to ANI. He also said that people who acquire illness as a result of COVID-19 are more likely to suffer as a result of Delta. Dr Dhiren went on to say that scientists and medical experts believe that this could be the end of the pandemic. 

He claims that people are concerned with the Omicron variant but it is a short term illness. Talking about the vaccine, he stated that they discovered that with vaccines people can receive the best preventive response for future infection, particularly with the Delta variant of infection, which affects the lungs and no one wants to end up needing oxygen and having long morbidity, according to ANI.

3,47,254 new coronavirus infections were documented

In the meanwhile, the data released on Friday by the Union Health Ministry suggests that 3,47,254 new coronavirus infections were documented bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases to 3,85,66,027, including 9,692 Omicron variant cases. The active cases have risen to 20,18,825, while the death toll has risen to 4,88,396 with 703 new fatalities. The ministry also stated that Omicron cases have risen by 4.36% since Thursday. The active COVID-19 caseload grew by 94,774 cases in just 24 hours. So far, 71.15 crore tests have been performed, including 19,35,912 tests in the last 24 hours.

(Inputs from ANI/ PTI)

Image: AP/ SHutterstock