We’ve known for some time now that the omicron variant of COVID-19, which is driving the current surge in coronavirus cases, is more transmissible but less deadly than past variants.
Recent studies have shown, for example, that while previous variants heavily attacked the lungs, omicron is far milder, mostly infecting the upper airways and not deep lung tissue.
Not that that stopped the usual suspects from pressing the panic button, or course.
But evidence continues to grow that omicron is a signal that the worst of the pandemic is over. Scientists are now saying omicron appears to have a death rate 100 times less than that of the delta variant.
“Covid killed one in 33 people who tested positive at the peak of the devastating second wave last January, compared to just one in 670 now,” according to analysis from the Daily Mail. “But experts believe the figure could be even lower because of Omicron” — and likely less than the case fatality rate of the seasonal flu, which is one in 1,000.
The World Health Organization, however, argues there still isn’t enough data to say with confidence that omicron is less severe than previous variants.
The Daily Mail‘s analysis, however, is supported by modeling done by researchers at Washington University, which suggests that omicron may kill between 97 and 99 percent fewer people than the delta variant.
Health officials in the United Kingdom estimated that the infection fatality rate of COVID before omicron was 0.25 percent, which is down from 1.5 percent before the availability of the vaccines.
If that’s the case, then the infection fatality rate of omicron could be as low as 0.0025 percent, or one in 40,000. However, the modeling from Washington University suggests that it’s closer to 0.07 percent, or roughly one in 1,430 — which, I will remind you, is less than the season flu.
The seasonal flu has been a part of our lives forever. But the seasonal flu didn’t compel us to wear masks in public or in schools, require vaccinations, or shut down businesses.
Remember this when the Biden administration, your Democrat governor, or your school district continues to insist on keeping COVID restrictions in place.
Source: PJ Media
