ANP Productions | Bron: ANP
London
People infected with the omikron variant of the coronavirus have a 20 to 50 percent lower risk of developing long-term Covid than people who have contracted the delta variant. Researchers from King’s College London draw that conclusion in a study published Thursday in the medical journal The Lancet.
The researchers looked at data from Covid patients during the omikron wave in the United Kingdom, from December 2021 to March 2022, and patients during the delta wave, from June to November 2021. Of the 56,003 patients in the omikron group, 4.5 percent received long-term Covid, of the 41,361 patients from the delta group, 10.8 percent.
The scientists warn that healthcare providers should not underestimate that there is still a great need for care around long-term Covid. The risk may have been lower during omikron, but because the variant was much more contagious than delta, many more patients with long-term Covid have been added in absolute numbers. “I wouldn’t close the services around long-term Covid just yet,” said lead researcher of the study Claire Steves.
The UK’s National Statistical Office says there are currently 438,000 patients with long-term Covid from omikron in the country. That’s 24 percent of all UK long-term Covid patients.