Increasing evidence has further suggested that Omicron may be a less severe variant than Delta, stated Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Biden, at a White House COVID-19 Response Team phone briefing.

However, Fauci emphasized that the latest data are preliminary, and have been derived from patients in South Africa and the U.K., adding that it may not directly translate to the U.S. population. He described a study published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, which compared hospital admissions related to COVID-19 at a hospital in Gauteng Province of South Africa from November 14, 2021 onward, which is the Omicron period, with previous admissions starting in May 4, 2020, which was the pre-Omicron period. Out of 466 cases in the Omicron wave, 4.5% of the patients died compared to 21.3% of the 3,976 cases in prior waves. ICU admissions were seen in 1% of the patients compared to 4.3%, respectively, while the length of hospital stay was 4 days and 8.8 days, respectively. He added that only 45% of the patients in the latest wave needed supplemental oxygen compared to 99.5% in the first wave… (Medpage Today)