Faroese Omicron study published internationally

Omicron is highly transmissible and it can infect triple-vaccinated people, but most Omicron patients develop milder symptoms than with previous variants.

These are some of the tentative conclusions of a new Faroese study, published on health science pre-print server Medrxiv on 23 December.

The study is published on a pre-print server as it is currently being peer reviewed, reports gransking.fo.

Study based on hospital staff

The researchers have analysed the test samples from 21 of 33 staff members at Tórshavn’s National Hospital who tested Covid positive after attending a private gathering at the start of this month.

All 21 had received the third booster shot and had a negative test result no older than 36 hours prior to attending the gathering.

The article describes the symptoms and compares them to previous Covid variants.

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It turned out that none of the 21 were asymptomatic.

The preliminary results indicate that fewer of the Omicron study participants lost their taste and smell and that vaccinated people infected with Omicron appear to display a milder course of illness, compared to people infected with previous variants.

The study authors are Gunnhild Helmsdal, Olga Kristina Hansen, Lars Fodgaard Møller, Debes H. Christiansen, Maria Skaalum Petersen and Marnar Fríðheim Kristiansen, all affiliated with the Faroese health system.

For further information about Covid-19 in the Faroes, including daily figures, visit corona.fo.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.