Omicron: What preliminary data say about severity, oxygen-dependence. read here

The Steve Biko and Tsavane District Hospital complex in Pretoria saw 166 new admissions between November 14 and November 29, which currently has 42 patients in COVID wards, according to a report reflecting the initial experience of patients in the hospital group. Most originally sought treatment for diseases unrelated to the coronavirus and found it to be in the testing required for admission.

The paper’s author, Fareed Abdullah, director of the South African Medical Research Council and an infectious disease specialist, said it only represents the first two weeks of the Omicron wave in Tshwane and “the clinical profile of patients admitted over the next two weeks.” could change significantly.” Pathologist at Steve Biko Hospital. The report has not been reviewed.

While the National Institute for Communicable Diseases has confirmed that nearly all new cases at the epicenter of the earthquake are different, Abdullah and his team were not able to establish that the variant in every instance is omicron. Still, a “reasonable assumption is being made that the cases in this data” represent infection with the new variant, Abdullah said.

Key comments include:

• Most of the patients in the Covid wards have not been dependent on oxygen – a departure from the previous waves.
• On December 2, out of 38 adults in the Covid wards, six were vaccinated, 24 were not vaccinated and eight had unknown immunization status.
• Only one patient was fully vaccinated on oxygen, but required intervention to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Two were admitted to intensive care within the past two weeks, but neither with a primary diagnosis of Covid pneumonia.
• Less than 80% of admissions were not under the age of 59. Some 19% were children up to 9 years old, and 28% of patients were 30 to 39 years old.
• Pediatric Covid wards did not report any death in the last two weeks. Children account for 17% of deaths in the last 18 months
• Ten patients died, or 6.6%, although it has not been determined that Omicron was the cause.
• The death toll may rise. The trend will become clear over the next two weeks – enough time to see if matters worsen.
• The average duration of stay in Covid wards was 2.8 days versus 8.5 days in the last 18 months.