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Omicron as Severe as Previous COVID Variants, Large Study Finds

People lineup for a COVID-19 test in Beijing, China, 27 April 2022. (EPA)
People lineup for a COVID-19 test in Beijing, China, 27 April 2022. (EPA)
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Omicron as Severe as Previous COVID Variants, Large Study Finds

People lineup for a COVID-19 test in Beijing, China, 27 April 2022. (EPA)
People lineup for a COVID-19 test in Beijing, China, 27 April 2022. (EPA)

The Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV2 virus is intrinsically as severe as previous variants, unlike assumptions made in previous studies that it was more transmissible but less severe, a large study in the United States has found.

"We found that the risks of hospitalization and mortality were nearly identical between periods," said four scientists who conducted the study based on records of 130,000 COVID-19 patients, referring to times in the past two years when different variants were dominant across the world.

The study, which is undergoing peer review at Nature Portfolio and was posted on Research Square on May 2, was adjusted for confounders including demographics, vaccination status, and the Charlson comorbidity index that predicts the risk of death within a year of hospitalization for patients with specific comorbid conditions.

The studies that assumed that the Omicron variant was less severe were conducted in various places including South Africa, Scotland, England, and Canada, said the scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital, Minerva University and Harvard Medical School.

They said their study could have several limitations, including the possibility that it underestimated the number of vaccinated patients in more recent COVID waves, and the total number of infections, because it excluded patients who performed at-home rapid tests.

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China to Offer Childcare Subsidies in Bid to Boost Birth Rate 

People push baby strollers along a business street in Beijing on July 13, 2021. (AFP)
People push baby strollers along a business street in Beijing on July 13, 2021. (AFP)
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China to Offer Childcare Subsidies in Bid to Boost Birth Rate 

People push baby strollers along a business street in Beijing on July 13, 2021. (AFP)
People push baby strollers along a business street in Beijing on July 13, 2021. (AFP)

China's government will offer subsidies to parents to the tune of $500 per child under the age of three per year, Beijing's state media said Monday, as the world's second most populous nation faces a looming demographic crisis.

The country's population has declined for three consecutive years, with United Nations demography models predicting it could fall from 1.4 billion today to 800 million by 2100.

The nationwide subsidies apply retroactively from January 1, Beijing's state broadcaster CCTV said, citing a decision by the ruling Communist Party and the State Council, China's cabinet.

"This is a major nationwide policy aimed at improving public wellbeing," CCTV said.

"It provides direct cash subsidies to families across the country, helping to reduce the burden of raising children," it added.

There were just 9.54 million births in China last year, half the number than in 2016, the year it ended its one-child policy, which was in place for more than three decades.

The population declined by 1.39 million last year, and China lost its crown as the world's most populous country to India in 2023.

Marriage rates are also at record low levels, in a country where many young couples have been put off having children by high child-rearing costs and career concerns.

Many local governments have already rolled out subsidies to encourage childbirth.

In March, Hohhot, the capital of China's northern Inner Mongolia region, began offering residents up to 100,000 yuan ($14,000) per newborn for couples with three or more children, while first and second children will be eligible for 10,000 and 50,000 yuan subsidies.

In Shenyang, in northeastern Liaoning province, local authorities give families who have a third child 500 yuan per month until the child turns three.

Hangzhou, in eastern Zhejiang province, offers a one-time payment of 25,000 yuan to couples who have a third child.

More than 20 provincial-level administrations in the country now offer childcare subsidies, according to official data.

Premier Li Qiang vowed to provide childcare subsidies during the government's annual work report in March.

The country's shrinking population is also ageing fast, which has sparked worries about the future of the country's pension system.

There were nearly 310 million aged 60 and over in 2024.