Danish Health Body Expects January Peak for Omicron Variant

(Bloomberg) -- Denmark expects the surge in the omicron variant of the coronavirus to peak later this month, with fewer hospitalizations versus earlier strains leading to an improvement by March, a senior health official told broadcaster TV2. 

Patients with the omicron variant have as much as 50% bigger chance of avoiding hospitalizations compared to patients with other variants, Tyra Grove Krause, a director of the Statens Serum Institut, was quoted as saying in an interview with the broadcaster on Monday, citing data from the U.K. and South Africa. 

Grove Krause expects Denmark to be “in a better place” in March, as more people will be immune after getting Covid-19, while fewer people will be hospitalized. Eventually it will only be vulnerable patients with chronic diseases that will have to be re-vaccinated ahead of the winter season, Krause added.

The Nordic nation, among the countries that do the most sequencing of positive tests, has seen some of the highest numbers of omicron cases since the new variant appeared toward the end of 2021.

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