Eswatini’s Hospitalization Rate Eases as Omicron Drives New Wave

(Bloomberg) -- Eswatini is having to hospitalize a fewer proportion of Covid-19 cases even as the omicron variant spurs a new wave of infections.

One out of every 100 cases currently seeks hospital care in Africa’s last absolute monarchy, which neighbors South Africa. That’s compared with one in 25 during the peak of the last wave in August.

“This is an indication that much fewer people are getting severe disease that requires admission,” the government said in a statement posted on Twitter Monday. “More than 80% of those admitted are not vaccinated.”

The findings from the country of 1.2 million people suggests that omicron may lead to less severe disease, even if it is far more transmissible than previous variants. Eswatini said at least 38% of Covid-19 test samples collected between November 24 and 29 were found to be the omicron variant. South Africa announced the discovery of the new strain on Nov. 25.

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