The number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients infected by the Omicron variant has fallen somewhat from those hit by the Delta variant.
A research team in South Africa compared the hospitalized patients after being confirmed positive in Covid-19 tests during the fourth wave caused by the Omicron variant with previous waves and published the results in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Researchers examined hospitalization periods and death rates of patients who received treatments at medical institutions under the Netcare, a South African healthcare group, from the second wave led by the Beta variant to the fourth wave caused by the Omicron variant.
They measured the third wave period dominated by the Delta variant from May to September last year and presumed that the initial phase of the fourth wave was between Nov. 15 and Dec. 7, when the Omicron variants began to increase.
The numbers of hospitalized patients during the third wave (Delta variant) and the fourth wave (Omicron variant) showed differences by 6,342 and 2,351, respectively.
Besides, while 68-69 percent of patients who visited hospitals after being confirmed positive were hospitalized during the Delta variants’ spread, only 41.3 percent of people infected by the Omicron patients were hospitalized, about 26 percentage points lower than the former.
Among the hospitalized Omicron patients, the share of patients with underlying diseases stood at 23.3 percent, lower than 52.5 percent for hospitalized Delta patients. In addition, the share of patients needing oxygen treatment dropped from 91.2 percent during the third wave to 31.6 percent in the fourth wave.
The proportions of hospitalization for intensive care were 18.5 percent in the fourth wave and 29.9 percent in the third wave. Mortality rates also showed big differences with 2.7 percent and 29.1 percent, respectively.
“The characteristics and patterns of hospitalized Covid-19 patients were the results of observation in the early stage of the fourth wave,” the researchers said. “The age of hospitalized patients during the fourth wave was younger, and the share of women was higher. In addition, those with underlying diseases were fewer, and the share of people showing acute respiratory diseases was also lower.”