PREreview of Omicron (BA.1) SARS-CoV-2 variant is associated with reduced risk of hospitalization and length of stay compared with Delta (B.1.617.2)

Main Claim & Relevance:

In this preprint, the authors conducted a cohort study of individuals diagnosed with SARS-CoV-2 infection. They found that infection with the Omicron variant was associated with a 75% risk reduction of hospitalization, an 86% risk reduction of death, and a 4 day reduction in the length of hospital stays compared to infection with the Delta variant.

Are the findings strong, reliable, potentially informative, not informative, or misleading?

The findings of this study are reliable. The inclusion of 15,978 individuals adjusted for sex, age, previous infection, and vaccination status allows for a strongly powered and representative analysis of the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection. These findings could have been further improved by correcting for additional characteristics of the participants such as socioeconomic status, which can be an important factor in patient health outcomes.

How might these ideas presented by the main claims further knowledge of the COVID-19 Pandemic?

There has been an abundant amount of speculation and media attention directed towards Omicron and how it compares to previous variants of concern. The findings of this preprint may be useful in deciding the best course of care to provide to a patient, and contribute to the overall body of knowledge regarding the current SARS-CoV-2 variants.