The UK seems to have exceeded the peak of Omicron’s latest Covid-19 wave, which is a sign that Omicron’s highly transmissible variant may be short-lived, but it may still be an important indicator that the pandemic could be slowing down.
Scientists believe that British data offers encouraging signs for countries in the Omicron wave behind the UK. These include the US. They say the variant is following the same pattern as South Africa’s, which saw cases rise rapidly in a matter of a month before declining again.
According to Wall Street Journal analysis, the seven-day average number of daily Covid-19 cases in the UK fell for a week. On Tuesday, it was below the 14 day average for the first times since November. Both indicate that the caseload is decreasing.
There has been a slowdown in the growth rate of new Covid-19 hospitalizations. In England, and London in particular, which was hit by the Omicron wave earlier than other areas, there are fewer new hospital admissions for Covid-19. On November 27, the first Omicron cases were discovered in the UK.
According to epidemiologists and health officials, the US is seeing signs of slowing down in the explosion of omicron cases from the Mid-Atlantic to New England. This suggests that there may be a turning point and that the coronavirus variant’s trajectory in the USA is similar to other countries.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) said Tuesday the rates of tests returning positive and case increases seem to be slowing–particularly in New York City, which emerged as an early epicenter of the highly contagious variant.
Scientists warn that hospital admissions and caseloads could still reverse as social mixing increases at the end of the holiday term and the beginning of the school year. The British experience has confirmed that Omicron is less severe than other versions of the virus, at least in countries like the U.K., where there are high vaccination rates for older and more vulnerable individuals.
These trends suggest that Omicron, and possibly the entire pandemic, is receding. Boris Johnson, Prime Minister, has indicated that he won’t be able to keep the limited public-health restrictions (such as working from home) that were set up to contain Omicron after January 26th, when they expire.
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