COVID-19's Omicron variant continues to spread around the U.S. and the world, and the World Health Organization on Monday deemed it a "very high" global risk. But a study released Tuesday by Discovery Health, South Africa's largest health insurer, offered more evidence that the new coronavirus strain causes milder illness, even as it evades some of the protections from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
The study examined 211,000 positive COVID-19 cases, including 78,000 South Africans who contracted the Omicron variant. It found that hospital admissions are 29 percent lower among adults infected with the Omicron than in the first wave of the pandemic back in mid-2000, and those hospitalized had less serious symptoms. .
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
North Korea may have just pulled off the world's biggest heistUnder the Radar Hermit kingdom increasingly targets vulnerable cryptocurrency, using cybercrime to boost battered economy and fund weapons programmes
-
Today's political cartoons - March 2, 2025Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - world domination, fantasy dominion, and more
-
5 dangerously funny cartoons about air travelCartoons Artists take on fees, fears, and more
-
Texas outbreak brings 1st US measles death since 2015Speed read The outbreak is concentrated in a 'close-knit, undervaccinated' Mennonite community in rural Gaines County
-
Mystery illness spreading in Congo rapidly kills dozensSpeed Read The World Health Organization said 53 people have died in an outbreak that originated in a village where three children ate a bat carcass
-
Ozempic can curb alcohol cravings, study findsSpeed read Weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy may also be helpful in limiting alcohol consumption
-
New form of H5N1 bird flu found in US dairy cowsSpeed Read This new form of bird flu is different from the version that spread through herds in the last year
-
Microplastics accumulating in human brains, study findsSpeed Read The amount of tiny plastic particles found in human brains increased dramatically from 2016 to 2024
-
FDA approves painkiller said to thwart addictionSpeed Read Suzetrigine, being sold as Journavx, is the first new pharmaceutical pain treatment approved by the FDA in 20 years
-
Study finds possible alternative abortion pillSpeed Read An emergency contraception (morning-after) pill called Ella could be an alternative to mifepristone for abortions
-
How close are we to a norovirus vaccine?Today's Big Question A new Moderna trial raises hopes of vanquishing a stomach bug that sickens millions a year
