Health Minister Robin Swann has warned against complacency as latest figures show soaring Covid infection rates but a dramatic drop in the number of deaths and hospitalisations.

Analysis of the latest Covid infection rates — at a time when the Omicron variant is dominant — show that just one per cent of those infected by Covid are being hospitalised. That news aligns with reports from South Africa that Omicron, while more infectious, has milder symptoms than previous variants, especially among the vaccinated. 

This time last year, five per cent of those who tested positive were treated in hospital. That figure has dropped to one per cent according to UK-wide figures released yesterday. 

3,227 people in the North had a confirmed positive test result reported yesterday (Wednesday).

Between 16 December 2021 and 22 December 2021, 2,997 people had a confirmed positive test result. This shows an increase of 54.5 per cent compared to the previous 7 days.

Minister Swann stressed this morning that Omicron poses a significant threat to health and social care services.

“There remains a great deal of uncertainty about Omicron," he said. "Some early research from Great Britain suggests it may be less severe than the Delta variant in terms of the proportion of infected people who require treatment in hospital.

“More information is still required and the findings are not definitive. I must emphasise that this early research definitely does not mean that Omicron should be taken any less seriously.

“It is much more infectious than Delta and will therefore lead to much greater levels of infection. Even with a lower proportion being hospitalised, if the number of cases rises to very high levels, the number of Covid in-patients will increase as well. Pressure on our hospitals could therefore be significantly increased."

Meanwhile, the latest figures released by NISRA show that 35 deaths involving Covid-19 occurred in the week 11 December to 17 December 2021.