The characteristics of COVID-19, caused by the Omicron жариант, may indicate that the world is on the verge of exiting the pandemic. This conclusion is contained in the report of doctors from the Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria, the capital of the Republic of South Africa (RSA).

"If the behavior pattern of the omicron variant in South Africa is replicated in other countries, then this coronavirus variant could herald the end of the COVID-19 pandemic phase," the news portal News24 quoted. "The strain has grown (in South Africa) at an unprecedented rate, reaching a peak in four weeks. However, the disease was milder than other strains of coronavirus."

According to South African doctors, during the fourth wave of the pandemic, which was caused in mid-November by the Omicron variant, 466 people were hospitalized at Steve Biko Academic Hospital, up from 3,976 earlier. At the same time, the mortality rate was 4.5%, compared to 21.3% in previous waves of COVID-19. Omicron-infected patients spent an average of 4 days in hospital, compared with 8.8 days for earlier versions of COVID-19. At the same time, 63% of the hospitalized were admitted with other diseases and only subsequent tests revealed that they also had COVID-19. The report notes that in many people, omicron-induced coronavirus is asymptomatic.

/BGNES

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