COVID-19 test against the background of the Omicron inscription MOSCOW, 2 Jan. The omicron coronavirus strain causes much less lung damage compared to other COVID-19 strains. The corresponding preprint of a study by American and Japanese scientists from the University of Washington School of Medicine, the University of Wisconsin at Madison and the University of Tokyo published in the journal Research Square. «Omicron», as experts have found, can cause a less severe course of the disease. The researchers came to such conclusions as a result of a series of experiments on mice and hamsters. Animals infected with omicron, for the most part, experienced milder symptoms of the disease and were less likely to experience weight loss. Scientists from the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases previously stated that the omicron strain is not as dangerous for lung cells as delta «and the wild-type coronavirus. 
The head of the WHO warned of the risk of a «tsunami» COVID-19 due to the «omicron» and «delta» The Telegraph publication, citing researchers from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases in South Africa and their colleagues from the University of Pretoria, in turn, wrote that the omicron strain of coronavirus has a 75 percent lower mortality rate compared to previous ones. Soon, the researchers believe, there will be a «complete separation of morbidity and mortality», which will put an end to the epidemic and lead to an endemic phase. The new strain B.1.1.529 was found in Botswana and South Africa on the twentieth of November. It contains dozens of mutations in the S-protein, which the pathogen needs to infect cells. B.1.1.529 is believed to have originally developed in an immunocompromised person with AIDS or HIV. The World Health Organization has recognized B.1.1.529 as «of concern» and named it omicron, after the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet … Experts believe that those who have already been ill and vaccinated can become infected, and symptoms range from fatigue to headaches and body aches.
