(Bloomberg) — Rates of Covid-19 severe illness and death fell in the U.S. during the omicron surge compared with the earlier delta wave as well as last winter’s, although high case counts and deaths continue to threaten patients and health systems, according to a government report.
Even as the proportion of hospital beds used for Covid patients’ treatment rose under omicron, intensive-care unit admissions for the same patients dipped slightly, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in a report. The highest seven-day moving average of deaths during omicron was also lower than any during the two earlier surges, the report said.
The results confirm patterns of lower in-hospital severe disease and mortality seen in other countries during the omicron period. Yet the findings clearly show that omicron can still produce very serious illness. Some 7.1% of hospitalized Covid-19 patients in the recent omicron wave still died in the hospital, according to the results.
“Although disease severity appears lower with the omicron variant, the high volume of hospitalizations can strain local health care systems and the average daily number of deaths remains substantial,” the report said. “Being up to date on vaccination and following other recommended prevention strategies are critical to preventing infections, severe illness or death from Covid-19.”
The study looked at aggregate cases and deaths reported by state health departments, emergency visits and hospital admissions from patients in multiple age groups from December 2020 to January 2022. Durations of hospital stays and rates of patients needing mechanical assistance to breathe also fell after omicron became dominant, which occurred in late December, according to the report.
Nonetheless, the percentage of inpatient beds used for Covid treatment jumped to 20.6% from 13.4% during summer’s delta wave and 17.2% during last winter’s surge, the study found.
Multiple factors helped reduce disease severity, including higher rates of vaccine coverage and use of booster shots during the omicron period. Decreased virulence of the omicron variant may also play a role, the researchers said.
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