Your Evening Briefing: Omicron Presents Greater Risk of Reinfection
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South Africa announced the discovery of the new variant, later christened omicron, on Nov. 25 as cases began to spike and the strain spread across the globe. Above, a health worker waits with hand sanitizer at the entrance to a testing site in Cape Town on Dec. 2.
Photographer: Dwayne Senior/BloombergIn some of the first data to come back on the omicron variant of the coronavirus, researchers in South Africa, where it was first identified, say the mutation is spreading faster than the delta strain. There also seems to be a greater risk of reinfection—where previously infected people get the virus again. Three times higher, in fact. But scientists also said hospitalizations in South Africa remain muted, a sign that may be attributable in part to vaccinations. Shabir Madhi, a vaccinologist at the University of the Witwatersrand, said he’s “optimistic that in this resurgence, while the total number of cases will probably be greater, hospitalizations and deaths will be lower.”
Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.