Omnipresent for several weeks in contaminations, the Omicron variant is now linked to more than one in two deaths with Covid-19 in hospital, according to figures published Friday January 28 by the Ministry of Health.
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Present in 99% of positive PCR tests, 88% of admissions to conventional hospitalization and 79% of admissions to critical care, Omicron also affected 57% of deaths "
occurring in hospital with Covid-19
" during the week from 17 to January 23, specifies the direction of statistics (Drees) in a press release.
Over this same period, Public Health France recorded 1,598 deaths linked to Covid in hospital.
Omicron “much less lethal”
Detected for the first time in France at the end of November, which became the majority at the end of December, this variant is gradually supplanting its predecessor Delta "
since infections precede hospitalizations by approximately one week, themselves preceding deaths by approximately one week
", explains the Dres.
Fortunately, Omicron "
appears much less lethal
", infected patients presenting a "
risk of dying after going to the hospital reduced by more than half
".
And this, “
regardless of (their) vaccine protection
”.
Read alsoCovid-19: Omicron rekindles hope for herd immunity
Unvaccinated people nevertheless remain overrepresented in “
events linked to Covid-19
”: accounting for 8% of those over 20, they totaled 16% of positive tests, 39% of admissions to conventional hospitalization, 54% of admissions to critical care and 46% of deaths between December 20 and January 16.
