Story at a glance
- In South Africa, previous infections could be what’s keeping hospitalization rates low.
- In London, 40 percent of cases are from the omicron variant.
- People in the U.S. may be more worried about infections than they were in October, but potentially not as much as they were with delta during the summer.
Recent data suggests that the omicron variant is surging in Washington state. Researchers found that 13 percent of 215 cases were the new variant, according to the New York Times. The variant is surging in South Africa and may be peaking.
Some experts suggest that previous infections could explain low omicron-related hospitalization rates in South Africa. The immunity of the population in the country comes largely from previous infections, despite a vaccination rate that is lower than in other countries.
“In a survey that fortuitously just ended in [Gauteng province] on Friday what we demonstrate is that the seropositivity in Gauteng is about 72%,” said Shabir Mahdi of the University of the Witwatersrand to The Guardian. “That is important to keep in the back of our mind when we see what is unfolding in South Africa and what we might expect in other settings.”
Health officials in the U.S. are also keeping an eye on what happens in the U.K. and other European countries. The omicron variant makes up 40 percent of the cases in London, says the U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson, according to the BBC.
“The risk is plainly there, we can see Omicron spiking now in London and some other parts of the country,” Johnson said. “Here in the capital it probably represents about 40% of the cases. By tomorrow it’ll be the majority of the cases and it’s increasing the whole time.”
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Health experts say that omicron accounts for 20 percent of the overall cases in England and expect that they can start giving booster shots to adults by the end of the month. In the meantime, the U.K. has removed the travel restrictions for people arriving from 11 countries in Africa.
This all comes as we head into the holiday season. People in the U.S. are more worried about the coronavirus but not taking additional precautions, according to a survey from The Associated Press. Concern was highest in August regarding delta, with 41 percent of respondents concerned about infection. This dropped to 25 percent in October, but now in December 36 percent said they were “extremely or very worried about themselves or a family member being infected with coronavirus.”
More than half of the people who filled out the survey said they were avoiding large groups, wearing a face mask and avoiding nonessential travel, according to the AP. The survey also found that the levels of activity were similar to that of June, when fear of infection was low.
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