Thread by @ScottGottliebMD

This week has seen huge Covid case growth in RSA, centered around #Gauteng, evidencing accelerating, exponential spread.

https://twitter.com/nicd_sa/status/1466814557154906116

Hospital admissions have been rising in recent days, but are not growing at a proportion that would seem to track with expansion in past waves. This depends on when you think the outbreak first began. It’s also still early in RSA experience with #OmicronVarient

Before we speculate that #Omicron may be an innately “mild” form of SARS2 we should consider that it’s likely spreading by reinfecting delta recovered people. So it’s new victims may retain enough cellular immunity to more effectively prevent progression to severe disease.

In a “naive” patient who has neither protection from vaccination or from prior infection, #OmicronVarient may be equally if not more virulent than past strains of SARS2.