Danish authorities announced on Tuesday that 18 patients had died due to complications COVID-19 after infection with the Omicron variant.
They were recorded from November 21st to December 28th, 2021.
During the same period, 127.146 cases of the new coronavirus were confirmed in Denmark, of which 55.691 were confirmed to be cases of Omicron infection. Another 100 deaths were caused by other strains of the virus, particularly in the Delta, according to the Statens Serum Institut (SSI), the main epidemiological watchdog in the northern European country.
"The risk of having to be hospitalized because of Omicron is estimated to be about half that of Delta," said Tira Grove Krause, SSI's scientific director, according to the Ritzau news agency.
"We believe that the Omicron variant will spread rapidly in January and February, infecting much of the population, but fortunately leading to mild illnesses (…) that greatly help vaccines," Ms Krause said.
To date, 57.125 Omicron cases have been confirmed, but this is "only a representative sample of the samples tested," warns the SSI. It is estimated that about 90% of the samples collected after December 28 contained the Omicron variant.
In the past 24 hours, the SSI recorded 25.073 infections and 15 deaths, with the new coronavirus pandemic in the country reaching 865.110 cases and 3.307 deaths.
According to the institution, 78,3% of the population (4.597.251 people) have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while 49,4% (2.903.451) have received a booster dose.
Source: RES-EAP