The trend of the Omicron epidemic, a variant of the coronavirus that seems to have a reduced “virulence” compared to other strains of the virus, but which could still congest hospital facilities. This is the main issue addressed by the director of Health Prevention of the Ministry of Health, Giovanni Rezza, in an intervention in the Corriere della Sera.
According to the epidemiologist, it is “still early to say” whether Omicron represents the prelude “to the biological end of the pandemic crisis”. However, “the alleviation of symptoms and population immunity caused by previous infections and / or vaccinations bode well as any new variant would most likely find the population more resistant”, explained Rezza. (COVID: THE LATEST NEWS LIVE – COVID VACCINE: DATA AND GRAPHICS ON ADMINISTRATIONS IN ITALY, REGION BY REGION)
Rezza: “It’s hard to think of a new, more contagious variant of Omicron”
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According to the Director of Health Prevention of the Ministry of Health, it is also “difficult to think of a new variant that can spread more quickly and efficiently than Omicron”. Yet “there remains a margin of uncertainty because viruses are known to be bizarre, and the opportunities offered to them by a globalized world largely poor in resources and vaccines are so many”, he added.
“Omicron has a selective advantage over other variants”
Still referring to the new coronavirus strain Sars-CoV-2, Rezza explained how the greater contagiousness and the short time interval between the appearance of one case and the next give Omicron a selective advantage over other variants, in addition to the ability to generate a large number of infections within a few days. Precisely for this reason, despite the virulence of Omicron seems to be reduced compared to the other variants, both “the risk of congestion in hospitals” and “any critical issues relating to the continuity of some essential services”, explained the epidemiologist, remain high.
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