Omicron becomes dominant variant in Germany - RKI institute

Omicron has become Germany's dominant coronavirus variant accounting for 73.3 % of cases nationwide compared with 44.3 % seven days ago, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases wrote in its weekly report on Thursday.

Omicron has become Germany's dominant coronavirus variant accounting for 73.3 % of cases nationwide compared with 44.3 % seven days ago, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases wrote in its weekly report on Thursday. The long-dominant Delta variant now accounts for just 25.9 % of cases, the RKI said.

"In the coming weeks we expect a strong increase in infections with the Omicron variant," the RKI said. "First studies point to a lower share of hospitalizations in those who are fully vaccinated compared to infections with the Delta variant." Around 72% of the population in Germany was now double vaccinated and 44% have had a booster shot, it said.

Germany earlier on Thursday reported a new record https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/germanys-covid-19-cases-hit-new-record-labs-warn-testing-crunch-2022-01-13 of more than 81,000 COVID-19 infections in a day as the government's coronavirus crisis manager warned of possible bottlenecks in testing.