Covid-19: is omicron less lethal than delta?

Soon after the omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern was first reported to the World Health Organization on 24 November 2021, preliminary observational studies in South Africa suggested this highly transmissible variant was associated with lower hospital admission and mortality rates in people with covid-19 infection.1 However, given omicron’s increased propensity to cause reinfections and vaccine breakthrough,23 it was unclear if this effect was due to previous immunity in the population or an inherent property of the genetically divergent variant.Subsequent analyses further supported a lower risk of severe outcomes in infections with omicron compared with delta, although these data were limited to all cause deaths within 28 days of diagnosis.4 Additionally, many public health measures previously enacted to curb SARS-CoV-2 transmission were being relaxed in early 2022, potentially resulting in more infections in relatively low risk populations. These limitations complicated efforts to assess the true risk of severe disease and mortality…
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