First, the variant is still new relative to the time we’ve observed for the transition from “cases” to “hospitalizations” and “deaths”. Additionally, the data we do have seems to indicate that the prognosis could be slightly different (symptoms appear earlier, replication is slower in the lungs...). And on top of this, high proportion of cases is of vaccinated, boosted and reinfected.
The signals that point towards the “milder virulence” hypothesis are drowning in noise. It could be that it is indeed milder, and I hope as much as anyone for this outcome. Still I stand by my above statement: currently, it’s wishful thinking.
First, the variant is still new relative to the time we’ve observed for the transition from “cases” to “hospitalizations” and “deaths”. Additionally, the data we do have seems to indicate that the prognosis could be slightly different (symptoms appear earlier, replication is slower in the lungs...). And on top of this, high proportion of cases is of vaccinated, boosted and reinfected.
The signals that point towards the “milder virulence” hypothesis are drowning in noise. It could be that it is indeed milder, and I hope as much as anyone for this outcome. Still I stand by my above statement: currently, it’s wishful thinking.