As a disclaimer, I believe COVID is real and the antivaxx conspiracy theories are absolutely ridiculous. That being said, literally in the first paragraph of this article it does say “…omicron does appear to be less severe compared to delta—especially in those vaccinated…” Peer-reviewed medical studies out of South Africa (which has a very robust healthcare system - that’s why these variants are often first identified there in the first place) show it may be 80% less likely to result in hospitalization and other research may suggest it’s 90% less likely to result in hospitalization or death. The numbers in the US (the ones I’m most familiar with, sorry) also suggest less hospitalization and death from this new variant. While cases right now are absolutely DWARFING last winter’s surge, we aren’t seeing comparable rates of hospitalization, ICU hospitalization or death.
Cases:
Hospitalizations:
ICU Hospitalizations:
Deaths:
These data are from CovidActNow, a non-profit organization which has been dedicated to tracking COVID numbers in the US since March 2020, despite the previous administration’s efforts to downplay the pandemic. They’re doing good work.
COVID is very real, very nasty, and to be taken seriously. But please keep in mind that news outlets in a capitalist society are in the business of manufacturing hysteria and keeping people engaged, much like corporate social media companies.
TL;DR Be careful but don’t panic. Do your own thinking and research.
One thing to watch out for is that (ICU) Hospitalizations and deaths even more so lag behind the numbers for cases. So looking at these numbers right now is probably still inconclusive.
But I very much like that you posted these graphs, that’s something you can properly discuss as opposed to all those comments regarding COVID-19 that just voice feelings without backing anything up.
Edit: Data from the UK look pretty similar: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare
The time lag between cases and hospitalizations seems to be a week and comparing the current hospitalizations to cases of a week a go and to the previous waves supports your claim.
As a disclaimer, I believe COVID is real and the antivaxx conspiracy theories are absolutely ridiculous. That being said, literally in the first paragraph of this article it does say “…omicron does appear to be less severe compared to delta—especially in those vaccinated…” Peer-reviewed medical studies out of South Africa (which has a very robust healthcare system - that’s why these variants are often first identified there in the first place) show it may be 80% less likely to result in hospitalization and other research may suggest it’s 90% less likely to result in hospitalization or death. The numbers in the US (the ones I’m most familiar with, sorry) also suggest less hospitalization and death from this new variant. While cases right now are absolutely DWARFING last winter’s surge, we aren’t seeing comparable rates of hospitalization, ICU hospitalization or death.
Cases:
Hospitalizations:
ICU Hospitalizations:
Deaths:
These data are from CovidActNow, a non-profit organization which has been dedicated to tracking COVID numbers in the US since March 2020, despite the previous administration’s efforts to downplay the pandemic. They’re doing good work.
COVID is very real, very nasty, and to be taken seriously. But please keep in mind that news outlets in a capitalist society are in the business of manufacturing hysteria and keeping people engaged, much like corporate social media companies.
TL;DR Be careful but don’t panic. Do your own thinking and research.
One thing to watch out for is that (ICU) Hospitalizations and deaths even more so lag behind the numbers for cases. So looking at these numbers right now is probably still inconclusive.
But I very much like that you posted these graphs, that’s something you can properly discuss as opposed to all those comments regarding COVID-19 that just voice feelings without backing anything up.
Edit: Data from the UK look pretty similar: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/healthcare The time lag between cases and hospitalizations seems to be a week and comparing the current hospitalizations to cases of a week a go and to the previous waves supports your claim.