Although few deaths from the new SARS-CoV-2 virus strain have been reported so far, the strain is rapidly “taking over” countries and causing more people to get ill. While the chances of each major patient dying are lower, there could be more deaths overall.
On December 29, the Ministry of Health of Belarus, for the first time, reported on the detection of the omicron strain of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Belarus. Specialists of the epidemiology RSPC found it in four people who had a mild course of the disease.
The strain had likely been in Belarus before: it was detected in all neighboring countries in the middle of December. The omicron has become the dominant strain in several countries, including the United States. Moreover, there is reason to doubt the truthfulness of the Ministry of Health reports: the official statistics look unrealistic, and the number of “extra” deaths is 15 times higher than the official number of deaths from the coronavirus.
Research on the new strain started not long ago. It is already clear that it is spreading much faster than past strains and that it is significantly more likely to infect those who have already been infected.
But as to whether it causes mild symptoms or equally severe previous strains. However, it appears that vaccines still protect against the severe effects of COVID-19, albeit with less effectiveness.
