Just how contagious is the Omicron variant of the coronavirus? Well, according to experts, all it takes is just a whiff of someone's infected breath to become afflicted.
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All it takes is just a whiff
With more than 150,000 cases recorded in the UK over the last 24 hours, numbers of transmissibility have been higher now than ever before. Further, research has shown that the Omicron strain is much more contagious than any other variant of the coronavirus so far.
However, though it is much easier to catch it, the latest strain that originated in South Africa has killed much fewer people in part due to vaccine protection. Dr. Peter Openshaw, of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), has said about the newest strain:
It has ended up being so infectious that it almost needs just a whiff of infected breath and you could get infected.
And added that:
We're in a relatively good position in countries like the UK but I think you have to remember that in many parts of the world the vaccination rates are only about five per cent, and they're being exposed to this very infectious virus with very little protection.
Have numbers finally peaked?
As it stands currently, cases in the UK have appeared to have peaked, with infections particularly slowing down in patients between the ages of 0 and 55. This has led experts as well as the WHO to believe that the worst is finally behind us and that 2022 could finally be the year to see the end of the coronavirus pandemic. Dr Claire Steves, scientist on the ZOE Covid Study app explained:
The number of daily new symptomatic Covid cases are more than double what they were this time last year and we are just a day or two away from hitting over 200,000. However, the exponential growth in cases appears to have stopped, and the rise is more steady.
Before adding:
Hospitalisation rates are thankfully much lower than this time last year, but they are still high, especially in London.
