The South African doctor who discovered it says it is milder – and the US says no more lockdowns.
Three things you aren't hearing about the Omicron variant, one month later
Wednesday, December 22, 2021
Empirical evidence so far shows no higher transmissibility, and surprisingly little general fear.
Update to Strategic View
The media and the government are stoking Omicron fear, and some clients are very concerned based on personal experience with it. Almost one month after the variant was announced, we now have evidence from 42 countries. In South Africa, where it was first discovered, cases so far peaked 10 days ago, and are similar to year-ago levels. Across countries, case loads are not correlated with prevalence of Omicron, indicating that the variant is no more transmissible than Delta. Based on web-search data, the public is so far less concerned with Omicron than it was with Delta, setting up Q1-2022 for continued reopening of the economy.