US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: The risk of death in the Omicron variant is relatively low compared to Delta
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said in a press release at the White House that although the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has spread rapidly in recent weeks, hospitalization and death rates remain “relatively low” compared to the Delta variant.
Sharing the average of the last 7 days of cases, Walensky said that the number of positive cases increased by 60 percent compared to last week to approximately 240 thousand per day, and hospitalizations increased by 14 percent to 9 thousand.
CDC Director, however, noted that the death rate, on the other hand, decreased by 7 percent to around 1100 per day.
Director of the U.S. Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci also stated that Omicron will follow a lower graph in positive cases and hospitalizations compared to the Delta variant, emphasizing that Kovid-19 vaccines will be critical for the fight.
Referring to the need for a second booster vaccine against Omicron, Fauci added that there is not enough data on how much protection the current booster vaccines provide.
Walensky and Fauci also warned that real data on deaths and hospitalizations may be available with a two-week delay.
