Omicron causes fewer hospitalizations than Delta: study

LISBON -- The risk of hospitalization is 75 percent lower for people infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 than with Delta, said a new study by the Portuguese health authorities.

People infected with Omicron have, on average, shorter hospital stays and a lower risk of dying from the disease, according to the study carried out by the Portuguese Directorate-General for Health (DGS) and the National Health Institute Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA).

This reduced risk factor is true "regardless of the age, sex, and vaccination status" of the patient, and is also not affected by whether or not the person has previously been infected with COVID-19, according to the study.

Research for the study was conducted on people residing in Portugal in December 2021.

The study's authors also warn that Omicron has a greater ability to resist vaccination, which makes it highly transmissible and explains the higher number of cases.

Portugal has registered more than 47,199 new cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, and 50 more deaths from the disease, which has killed 20,127 people since the beginning of the pandemic.